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. 2005 Feb 18;7(3):R314–R325. doi: 10.1186/bcr998

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.