Table 3.
Relative risks of breast cancer by changes in body fatness between ages 5, 10, and 20 years among 109,267 premenopausal Nurses' Health Study II participants (1989–2001)
Casesa (n = 1318) | Person-years | Age-adjusted RR (95% CI) | Multivariate RR (95% CI)b | Multivariate RR + starting figurec | |
Change from ages 5 to 10 years | |||||
Decreased | 76 | 59,972 | 0.97 (0.77–1.23) | 0.94 (0.74–1.19) | 1.04 (0.82–1.32) |
No change | 950 | 720,994 | 1.00 (ref.) | 1.00 (ref.) | 1.00 (ref.) |
Increased 1 level | 218 | 194,725 | 0.87 (0.75–1.01) | 0.88 (0.76–1.02) | 0.88 (0.76–1.02) |
Increased 2 or more levels | 74 | 69,001 | 0.79 (0.62–1.00) | 0.79 (0.62–1.00) | 0.77 (0.61–0.98) |
Change from ages 10 to 20 years | |||||
Decreased | 223 | 184,978 | 0.86 (0.74–1.01) | 0.86 (0.74–1.01) | 1.06 (0.89–1.27) |
No change | 497 | 353,987 | 1.00 (ref.) | 1.00 (ref.) | 1.00 (ref.) |
Increased 1 level | 463 | 388,462 | 0.92 (0.81–1.04) | 0.92 (0.81–1.05) | 0.85 (0.74–0.97) |
Increased 2 or more levels | 135 | 117,264 | 0.93 (0.77–1.12) | 0.92 (0.76–1.11) | 0.82 (0.67–0.99) |
Change from ages 5 to 20 years | |||||
Decreased | 172 | 135,479 | 0.91 (0.76–1.08) | 0.90 (0.75–1.07) | 1.06 (0.88–1.29) |
No change | 449 | 321,121 | 1.00 (ref.) | 1.00 (ref.) | 1.00 (ref.) |
Increased 1 level | 474 | 384,088 | 0.94 (0.83–1.08) | 0.95 (0.83–1.08) | 0.88 (0.77–1.01) |
Increased 2 or more levels | 223 | 204,003 | 0.87 (0.74–1.02) | 0.86 (0.74–1.02) | 0.77 (0.65–0.91) |
aIncluding both invasive and in situ cases. bAdjusted for age (months), time period (6 periods), birthweight (<5.5, 5.5–6.9, 7–8.4, 8.5–9.9, ≥ 10 lb), height (inches), recent alcohol consumption (0, 0.1–1.4, 1.5–4.9, 5.0–9.9, ≥ 10 g/day), parity and age at first birth (nulliparous, 1–2 pregnancies with age at first birth <25 years, 1–2 pregnancies with age at first birth 25–29 years, 1–2 pregnancies with age at first birth ≥ 30 years, ≥ 3 pregnancies with age at first birth <25 years, ≥ 3 pregnancies with age at first birth 25–29 years, ≥ 3 pregnancies with age at first birth ≥ 30 years), oral contraceptive use (never, past use <4 years, past use ≥ 4 years, current use <4 years, current use ≥ 4 years), history of benign breast disease (yes, no), and first-degree family history of breast cancer (yes, no). cAdjusted for same factors as above, plus figure at age 5 years (for change from ages 5 to 10 years and from ages 5 to 20 years) or at age 10 years (for change from ages 10 to 20 years), each modeled as an ordinal variable. CI, confidence interval; RR, relative risk.