Table 1.

Characteristics of studies included in the final analysis

Study (reference)		Country	Period	Type of cancer	Type of exposure	Categorized age at first exposure	Asbestos exposure information	Confounding variables	Type of outcome
1	Chen M et al., [22]	Hongkong	1981-2008	Mesothelioma and lung cancer	Occupational exposure	<20 yrs. ≥20 yrs	Age at first exposure 19.94 ± 7.92	Smoking	Standardized mortality ratios (95% CI)
							Years of asbestos exposure 31.49 ± 16.42
2	Lacourt A et al. [23]	France	1998-2006	Mesothelioma	Occupational exposure	15 yrs, 20 yrs, 30 yrs	Age at first exposure 21.0 ± 7.0	Intensity and total duration of exposure	Odds ratio (95% CI)
							Years of asbestos exposure 27.8 ± 12.9
3	Rake C et al. [24]	UK	2001-2006	Mesothelioma	Occupational and domestic exposure	<20 yrs, 20–29 yrs, ≥30 yrs	Categorical variables: job category, Age at first exposure, duration of employment, domestic exposure history		Odds ratio (95% CI)
4	Pira E et al. [25]	Italy	1946-2004	Mesothelioma and lung cancer	Occupational exposure	<25 yrs, 25–34 yrs, ≥35 yrs	Categorical variables: Age at first exposure, duration of employment, time since first/last employment		Standardized mortality ratios (95% CI)
5	Reid A et al. [26]	Australia	1943-2000	Mesothelioma	Residential exposure	<15 yrs, ≥15 yrs	Residential exposure (day) 1,007 ± 1,404, cumulative exposure (f/mL-yr) 5.5 ± 8	Cumulative exposure, first residence age, sex	Hazard ratio (95% CI)
6	Luce D et al. [27]	New Caledonia	1993-1995	Mesothelioma and lung cancer	Residential exposure	Birth, ≤16 yrs, >16 yrs	Categorical variables: Age at first exposure, duration of exposure	Smoking, age at first exposure, exposure duration	Odds ratio (95% CI)