Table 1.

Characteristics of the study population of women with breast cancer from questionnaire information.

	Subjects included in analysis (n = 939)
	No.	%
Age at diagnosis (years)
20–29	13	1.4
30–39	139	14.8
40–49	342	36.4
50–59	315	33.6
60–69	130	13.8
Range	23–69
Mean (Std)	48.7 (9.19)
Median	49.0
Year of breast cancer diagnosis
1996	282	30.0
1997	329	35.1
1998	328	34.9
Recall period (years)
1–5	896	95.4
>5	43	4.6
Mean (Std)	3.0 (1.2)
Median	3.0
Marital status
Married/living as married	734	78.2
Widowed/divorced/separated/never married	205	21.8
Educational status
High school or less	358	38.3
Some vocational/technical/college/university	334	35.8
Bachelor or graduate degree	242	25.9
Missing	5	n/a
Born in English speaking country
Yes	825	88.1
No	111	11.9
Missing	3	n/a
Ethnic background
White	901	96.5
Other	31	3.3
Don't know	2	0.2
Missing	5	n/a
Have you ever consumed alcohol?1
Yes	462	49.4
No	474	50.6
Missing	3	n/a
Number of drinks per week
0	495	52.7
1–4	218	23.2
5–9	145	15.4
10–19	55	5.9
20–29	16	1.7
30–39	9	1.0
40–49	1	0.1
Have you ever smoked?2
Yes	473	50.4
No	465	49.6
Missing	1	n/a
Smoking status2
Current smoker	187	19.9
Former smoker	280	29.8
Never smoker	465	49.5
Don't know	6	0.8
Missing	1	n/a
Breast cancer recurrence
Yes	50	5.3
No	889	84.7
First degree relative with history of breast or ovarian cancer
Yes	341	36.3
No	598	63.7
Menopausal status at diagnosis
Pre-menopausal	520	55.4
Post-menopausal	248	26.4
Unknown—on menopausal hormone therapy	59	6.3
Unknown—hysterectomy	104	11.1
Missing	8	0.8

¹More than 1 drink per week on average for a period of at least 6 months.

²Refers to cigarette smoking.