Table 1.
Characteristics of AGRICOH cohorts included in the analysis.
| AGRICAN | AHS | CNAP | Australian cohorts1 | KMCC | MESA | SUS | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of subjects | 128,101 | 51,165 | 43,834 | 13,134 | 8,432 | 2,177 | 1,899 | |
| Geography | Doubs, Gironde, Isère, Loire Atlantique, Manche, Bas Rhin, Haut Rhin, Somme, Tarn, Vendée, Cote d’Or, France | Iowa & North Carolina, USA | Norway | New South Wales & Victoria, Australia | Haman County & Uljin County, Kyungnam Province; Chungjui City & Pohang City, Chungbuk Province, South Korea | Central & North Wisconsin, USA | Denmark | |
| Enrolment | 2005–2007 | 1993–1997 | 1969, 1979, 1989 | 1960 s-1980 s (Pesticide Exposed Workers) 1996–1998 (Victorian Grain Farmers) |
1993–2005 | 1991–2010 | 1992–1994 | |
| Cancer follow-up | enrolment to 2012 | enrolment to 2012 | 1991–2011 | 1983 to 2002 | enrolment to 2012 | enrolment to 2009 | enrolment to 2014 | |
| Gender, % (n) | Males | 56.2 (71,944) | 97 (49,829) | 94.01 (41,208) | 91.7 (12,050) | 44.2 (3,727) | 88.0 (1,915) | 88.2 (1,675) |
| Females | 43.8 (56,157) | 2.6 (1,336) | 6.09 (2,626) | 8.3 (1,084) | 55.8 (4,705) | 12.0 (262) | 11.8 (224) | |
| No. person-years | Males | 390,455.13 | 779,725.70 | 823,114 | 227,532.5 | 40,682 | 29,288 | 34,290 |
| Females | 315,012.01 | 20,939.13 | 53,041 | NA | 56,952 | 3,212 | 4,545 | |
| Age at enrolment, mean | 64.4 | 46.8 | 43.5 | 33.3 | 58 | 38.2 | 19.2 | |
| Age at enrolment, range | 20–105 years | 12–93 years | NA | NA | 19–91 years | 15–99 years | 17–49 years | |
| Mean duration of follow-up in years | 5.5 | 15.7 | 20 | 18.9 | 11.6 | 15.6 | 20.4 | |
| Mean year of entry | 2006 | 1995 | 1991 | 1983 | 1999 | 1992 | 1993 | |
| Eligibility criteria | Member of MSA2 aged ≥ 18 years, agricultural worker for more than 3 years & living in defined regions in 2005 | All pesticide applicators requesting pesticide licenses | All Norwegian farm holders in at least one of the Agricultural Censuses in 1969–1989 | Pesticide exposed workers who were employed during 1960 s-1980 s and had participated in a biomonitoring and occupational health surveillance program run by the New South Wales and Victoria State governments Members of the Victorian Farmers' Federation from randomly selected branches |
Volunteer for national cancer screening survey from 1993, aged > 35 years in defined area | Farmers identified in selected listings in the state | All farming school attendants from February 1992 until February 1994 at level 1a (i.e., 2nd stay at a farming school) | |
| Inclusion/exclusion for the present analysis | Inclusion: Members of MSA who worked for more than 3 years in a farm (active & retired professional farmers, co-farmers, agricultural workers) Exclusion: Cote d’Or region3, known history of cancer |
Inclusion: Private pesticide applicators Exclusion: known history of cancer |
Inclusion: Farm holders who are still active according to the 1999 or 2010 Census & with >0.5 ha of agricultural land or 0.1 ha of horticultural acreage Exclusion: known history of cancer |
Same as above | Inclusion: KMCC participants who responded yes to “Have you ever been employed in agriculture or livestock” Exclusion: known history of cancer |
Inclusion: A place from which ≥ $1,000 of agricultural products were produced & sold, or normally would have been sold, during the census year | Inclusion: Farming school attendants who completed compulsory farming training program | |
| Type of productions, % (n) | Livestock only | 13.2 (16,937) | 2 (998) | NA | NA | 0 (0) | ||
| Crops only | 21.2 (27,216) | 32 (16,584) | 4.27 (81) | |||||
| Both | 61.4 (78,673) | 56 (28,552) | 92.8 (1,763) | |||||
| At least crops | 100 (919)5 | 97.1 (1,844) | ||||||
| At least livestock | 74 (101,987)4 | 92.8 (1,763) | ||||||
| Missing | 4.1 (5,275) | 10 (5,061) | 0 (4) | |||||
| Education, % (n) | No formal education | 21.3 (27,355) | 0 (0) | NA | 0 (0) | 24.8 (2,090) | NA | 0 (0) |
| Primary school; 1–6 years | 30.5 (39,058) | 4.4 (2,248) | 0.8 (7)5,6 | 63.9 (5,391) | 0 (0) | |||
| Secondary school; 7–11 years | 35.3 (45,242) | 51.4 (26,273) | 74.2 (682)5 | 4.5 (376) | 0 (0) | |||
| Tertiary education; >11 years | 6.5 (8,274) | 39.7 (20,307) | 24.9 (229)5 | 6.3 (533) | 100 (1,899) | |||
| Missing | 6.4 (8,172) | 4.6 (2,337) | 0.1 (1)5 | 0.5 (42) | 0 (0) | |||
| Smoking status at enrolment, % (n) | Current | 8.7 (11,114) | 15.8 (8,093) | NA | 11.8 (108)5 | 29.3(2,474) | NA | 29.7 (563) |
| Former | 24.2 (31,012) | 30.2 (15,447) | 31.2 (287)5 | 11.0 (923) | 4.5 (86) | |||
| Never | 60.6 (77,591) | 51.6 (26,377) | 56.7 (521)5 | 59.5 (5,018) | 65.8 (1,250) | |||
| Missing | 6.5 (8,384) | 2.4 (1,248) | 0.3 (3)5 | 0.2 (17) | 0 (0) | |||
| Alcohol consumption at enrolment, % (n) | Current | 74.1 (94,936)7 | 61.2 (31,323) | NA | 67.1 (617)5 | 36.2 (3,053) | NA | NA |
| Former | NA | 6.5 (60)5 | 5.6 (474) | |||||
| Never | 18.7 (23,930) | 31.9 (16,339) | 26.0 (239)5 | 57.8 (4,869) | ||||
| Missing | 7.2 (9,235) | 6.9 (3,503) | 0.3 (3)5 | 0.4 (36) | ||||
Abbreviation. n: number, NA: not available, AGRICAN: the French Agriculture and Cancer cohort study, AHS: Agricultural Health Study, CI: confidence interval, CNAP: Cancer in the Norwegian Agricultural Population, KMCC: Korean Multi-Center Cancer, MESA: Marshfield Epidemiologic Study Area Farm, SIR: standardized incidence ratio, SUS: Danish Sund Stald Study.
1
Pesticide Exposed Workers cohort and Victorian Farmers cohort combined.
2
MSA is a specialized health insurance program for agricultural activities in France.
3
The Cote d’Or area was excluded because the registry only captured haematological, gastrointestinal, and gynaecological cancers.
4
Based on the total cohort of 137,821 subjects (30).
5
Information from the Victorian Grain Farmers cohort only.
6
No formal education and primary school combined.
7
Ever alcohol users.