Table 1. Characteristics of studies included in meta-analysis.

Source	Design and Study Location	Study participants	No. cases	Age at baseline, years	Sedentary behaviour measurement mode	Sedentary measure used in meta-analysis	Adjustment for confounders	Quality assessment
Garabrant et al, 1984	Cohort, USA	4163 men	326 C; 104 R	20–64	Job title-based	Sedentary work vs high occupational activity	Adjusted uniformly within site for cases with unreported occupation	4
Weiderpass et al, 2003	Cohort, Finland	892 591 women	NA	25–65	Job title-based	Sedentary work vs physical work	Turnover rate	4
Moradi et al, 2008	Cohort, Sweden	922 266 men and women	2000 C(W); 5900 C(M); 1122 R(W); 4206 R(M)	NA	Self-reported	Sedentary work vs very high/high occupational activity	Age, place of residence and socioeconomic status	4
Howard et al, 2008	Cohort, USA	488 720 men and women	3240 C(M); 1482 C(W)	50–71	Self-reported	>9+vs<3 h in spent watching TV or videos (hours/day)	Age, smoking, alcohol consumption, education, race, family history of colon cancer, total energy,fruit and vegetables intake, total physical activity, BMI	6
Gerhardsson et al, 1986	Cohort, Sweden	1 223 908 men	5100 C; 4533 R	20–64	Job title-based	>50% vs <50% time in sitting work	Age, density, social class	5
Fraser and Pearce, 1993	Cohort, New Zealand	2503 men	180 C; 430 R	15–64	Job title-based	Sedentary work vs physical work	Unadjusted	3
Thune and Lund, 1996	Cohort, Norway	81 243 men and women	99 C(W); 236 C(M); 58 R(W); 170 R(M)	Men median 58.1 women median 54.6	Self-reported	Sedentary vs standing work occupational	Age, geographic region and BMI	5
Thune and Lund, 1996	Cohort, Norway	81 243 men and women	99 C(W); 236 C(M); 58 R(W); 170 R(M)	Men median 58.1 women median 54.6	Self-reported	Sedentary vs moderate activity recreational	Age, geographic region and BMI	5
Colbert et al, 2001	Cohort, Finland	29 133 men	152 C; 104 R	50–69	Self-administered	Sedentary work vs light work occupational	Age, supplement group, BMI, and smoking	5
Colbert et al, 2001	Cohort, Finland	29 133 men	152 C; 104 R	50–69	Self-administered	Sedentary work vs active recreational	Age, supplement group, BMI, and smoking	5
Johnsen et al, 2006	Cohort, Danish	54 478 men and women	140 C(W); 157 C(M)	50–64	Self-reported	sitting work vs standing work	Sports, cycling, walking, gardening, housework, do-it-self, BMI, education, NSAID, present use of HRT, smoking and intake of total energy, fat, dietary fibre, red meat and alcohol	6
Friedenreich et al, 2006	Cohort, International	413 044 men and women	1094 C; 599 R	51.9 (10.00)	Self-administered	Sitting work vs standing work	Age and centre and energy, education, smoking, height, weight ), fibre, and fish intake	5
Simons et al, 2013	Cohort, The Netherlands	4416 men and women	1109 C(W); 1165 C(M); 464 R(M)	Men:61.3 (4.2) women: 61.4 (4.3)	Self-reported	Occupational sitting hours of <2 vs 6–8 h/day	Age, family history of colorectal cancer, smoking status, alcohol intake, BMI, meat intake, processed meat intake, and total energy intake	5
Campbell et al, 2013	Cohort, USA	184 194 men and women	1664 C; 598 R	NA	Self-reported	Leisure time spending sitting hours <3vs ⩾6 h/day	Age,education, BMI, smoking, red meat intake, recreational physical activity, and tumour stage	6
Vetter et al, 1992	Case–control, Turkey	471 men and women	87 C	14–97	Job title-based	<2 h vs >6 h in spent sitting work	Age, smoking	4
Arbman et al, 1993	Case–control, Sweden	1172 men and women	98 C; 79 R	40–75	Self-reported	0 vs ⩾20years in sedentary work	Age	3
Peters et al, 1989	Case–control, USA	294 men and women	41 R(M)	25–45	Job title-based	More than 80% of the time on the occupational job	Age, education	4
Whittemore et al, 1990	Case–control, USA,	1665 men and women in America	179 C(M); 105 R(M); 114 C(W); 75 R(W);	20–79	Interview	⩾10 h vs<5 h sitting per day	Unadjusted	3
Whittemore et al, 1990	Case–control, China	1728 men and women in China	95 C(M); 131 R(M); 78 C(W); 128 R(W)	20–80	Interview	⩾10 h vs<6 h sitting per day	Unadjusted	3
Boyle et al, 2011	Case–control, Australia	1848 men and women	534 C; 318 R	40–79	Job title-based	0 vs ⩾10years in sedentary work	Age, sex, lifetime recreational physical activity level, cigarette smoking (pack-year tertiles), diabetes, educational level, energy intake from food, alcohol intake, BMI and socioeconomic status	5
Dosemeci et al, 1993	Case–control, Turkey	6236 men and women	93 C; 102 R	<55	Job title-based	<2 h vs >6 h/day in sitting work	Age, smoking, socioeconomic status	4
Levi et al, 1999	Case–control, Sweden	714 men and women	119 C; 104 R	27–74	Interview	Sitting work vs standing work	Sex age education, and intake of total alcohol and energy	4
Tavani et al, 1999	Case–control, Italian	5379 men and women	688 C(M); 537 C(W)	19–74	Interview	Sitting work vs standing work	Terms for centre, age, education and intake of total alcohol and energy	4
Tang et al, 1999	Case–control, Taiwan	326 men and women	27 C(W); 43 C(M); 44 R(W); 49 R(M)	33–81	Interview	Sedentary vs active leisure-time physical activity	Total calories, dietary fibre, total vegetable protein and water intake, smoking(men only) alcohol drinking (men only)	4
Parent et al, 2011	Case–control, Canada	4264 men	496 C; 249 R	Case 58.9(8.01) control 59.6(7.92)	Interview	75%+s vs <75% of work years was spent in sedentary job	Age, socio-economic status, educational level, ethnicity, respondent status, smoking, BMI, sports and outdoor activities, coffee, tea, beer, alcohol, farming, β-carotene, asbestos, silica, aromatic amines	5

Abbreviations: BMI=body mass index; C=colon; M=man; NA=not available; R=rectal; W=women; USA=United States.Age presented the range with mean (s.d.)