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. 2019 Sep 24;17:178. doi: 10.1186/s12916-019-1408-4

Table 1.

Main characteristics of the study population

Variables N Controls Cases
N = 1624 N = 1624
Mean (SD) or N (%) Mean (SD) or N (%)
Age at blood collection (years) 3248 52.5 (7.9) 52.5 (8.0)
Length of follow-up from blood collection (years) 3248 8.3 (2.8)
Age at diagnosis (years) 1624 60.8 (8.3)
ER status 1624
 Negative 313 (19.3)
 Positive 1311 (80.7)
PR status 1624
 Negative 516 (31.8)
 Positive 1108 (68.2)
HER2 status 1624
 Negative 1270 (78.2)
 Positive 354 (21.8)
Age at first menstrual period (years) 3248 13.1 (1.6) 13.0 (1.5)
Number of full-term pregnancies 3248
 0 215 (13.2) 244 (15.0)
 1 253 (15.6) 310 (19.1)
 2 729 (44.9) 686 (42.2)
 ≥ 3 427 (26.3) 384 (23.6)
Age at first full-term pregnancy (years) 2789 24.9 (4.3) 25.3 (4.4)
Ever breastfed 3248
 No 194 (11.9) 206 (12.7)
 Yes 1116 (68.7) 1080 (66.5)
 Never pregnant 215 (13.2) 244 (15.0)
 Missing 99 (6.1) 94 (5.8)
Use of exogenous hormones at blood collection 3248
 No 1124 (69.2) 1130 (69.6)
 Yes 492 (30.3) 494 (30.4)
 Missing 8 (0.5) 0 (0.0)
Menopausal status at blood collection 3248
 Premenopausal 434 (26.7) 434 (26.7)
 Postmenopausal 869 (53.5) 872 (53.7)
 Perimenopausal 321 (19.8) 318 (19.6)
Fasting status at blood collection (time since last meal) 3248
 < 3 h 737 (45.4) 731 (45.0)
 3–6 h 284 (17.5) 285 (17.5)
 > 6 h 580 (35.7) 580 (35.7)
 Unknown 23 (1.4) 28 (1.7)
Alcohol consumption at recruitment (g/day) 3248 8.9 (12.2) 10.2 (13.5)
Education level 3248
 Primary/no schooling 610 (37.6) 597 (36.8)
 Technical/professional/secondary 687 (42.3) 688 (42.4)
 Longer education 327 (20.1) 339 (20.9)
Height (cm) 3248 161.4 (6.6) 162.0 (6.6)
Weight (kg)
 Age at diagnosis < 50 years old 382 63.8 (11.3) 63.0 (10.9)
 Age at diagnosis ≥ 50 years old 2866 66.7 (10.8) 68.4 (12.2)
Body mass index (kg/m2)
 Age at diagnosis < 50 years old 382 24.2 (4.1) 23.9 (4.2)
 Age at diagnosis ≥ 50 years old 2866 25.7 (4.1) 26.1 (4.6)
Waist circumference (cm)
 Age at diagnosis < 50 years old 382 76.8 (9.8) 76.4 (10.3)
 Age at diagnosis ≥ 50 years old 2866 81.0 (10.4) 82.5 (11.3)
Hip circumference (cm)
 Age at diagnosis < 50 years old 382 99.0 (8.6) 98.3 (8.4)
 Age at diagnosis ≥ 50 years old 2866 101.4 (8.0) 102.7 (9.1)

ER estrogen receptor, HER2 human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, PR progesterone receptor