Table I.
Main characteristics of cases and controls
| Cases (365) | Controls (1284) | P valuea | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| n (%) | n (%) | |||
| Sex | Male | 214 (58.6) | 759 (59.1) | — |
| Female | 151 (41.4) | 525 (40.9) | ||
| Country | France | 2 (0.5) | 3 (0.2) | — |
| Italy | 56 (15.3) | 206 (16.0) | ||
| Spain | 41 (11.2) | 134 (10.4) | ||
| United Kingdom | 41 (11.2) | 135 (10.5) | ||
| The Netherlands | 26 (7.1) | 99 (7.7) | ||
| Greece | 24 (6.6) | 88 (6.9) | ||
| Germany | 48 (13.2) | 186 (14.5) | ||
| Sweden | 64 (17.5) | 220 (17.1) | ||
| Denmark | 61 (16.7) | 205 (16.0) | ||
| Norway | 2 (0.5) | 8 (0.6) | ||
| Education | None | 21 (5.8) | 82 (6.4) | 0.49 |
| Primary school | 157 (43.0) | 507 (39.5) | ||
| Technical/professional | 91 (24.9) | 305 (23.8) | ||
| Secondary school | 40 (11.0) | 140 (10.9) | ||
| University | 48 (13.2) | 218 (17.0) | ||
| Missing | 8 (2.2) | 32 (2.5) | ||
| Smoking status | Never smoker | 128 (35.1) | 542 (42.2) | 0.001 |
| Former smoker | 115 (31.5) | 427 (33.3) | ||
| Current smoker | 118 (32.3) | 292 (22.7) | ||
| Missing | 4 (1.1) | 23 (1.8) | ||
| Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | |||
| Age at recruitment (years) | 58.4 (7.9) | 58.4 (7.7) | — | |
| Dietary intake (per day) | ||||
| Energy (kcal) | 2142 (631.5) | 2137 (696.9) | 0.85 | |
| Iron (mg) | 13.2 (4.3) | 13.3 (4.7) | 0.59 | |
| Vegetables (g) | 183.2 (140.5) | 185.7 (133.4) | 0.66 | |
| Fruit (g) | 215.7 (182.0) | 235.6 (182.7) | 0.04 | |
| Red meat (g) | 50.8 (35.6) | 48.6 (37.8) | 0.28 | |
| Processed meat (g) | 39.4 (38.5) | 35.5 (33.3) | 0.01 | |
| Alcohol (g) | 16.9 (23.4) | 15.0 (22.8) | 0.17 | |
a P values are calculated excluding subjects with missing values; data not shown for variables on which cases and controls were matched.