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Nested case–control study of occupational physical activity and prostate cancer among workers using a job exposure matrix

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Abstract

Objective

We conducted a nested case–control study of 362 cases diagnosed between 1 January 1988 and 31 December 1999, and 1,805 matched controls to examine the association between occupational physical activity and prostate-cancer incidence among workers at a nuclear and rocket engine-testing facility in Southern California.

Methods

We obtained cancer incidence data from the California Cancer Registry and seven other state cancer registries. Data from company records were used to construct a job exposure matrix (JEM) for occupational physical activity during employment. Conditional logistic regression was used to estimate associations.

Results

With adjustment for occupational confounders, including socioeconomic status and trichloroethylene (TCE) exposure, high activity levels at work were inversely associated with prostate-cancer incidence among aerospace workers (odds ratio [OR] = 0.55; 95% CI = 0.32–0.95), but not among radiation workers (OR = 0.95; 95% CI = 0.43–2.1).

Conclusions

Our results suggest that adult men who are more continually active at work may have a decreased risk of prostate cancer.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Kavitha Pathmarajah for help with data collection and entry, and the employees of the Rocketdyne/Boeing Company who provided valuable information about work conducted at the facility.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Anusha Krishnadasan, Yingxu Zhao & Beate Ritz

  2. Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Nola Kennedy & Beate Ritz

  3. Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Hal Morgenstern

  4. Department of Emergency Medicine, Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, 14445 Olive View Drive, North Annex Bldg. Rm 105, Sylmar, CA, 91342, USA

    Anusha Krishnadasan

Authors
  1. Anusha Krishnadasan
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  2. Nola Kennedy
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  3. Yingxu Zhao
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  4. Hal Morgenstern
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  5. Beate Ritz
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Correspondence to Anusha Krishnadasan.

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Krishnadasan, A., Kennedy, N., Zhao, Y. et al. Nested case–control study of occupational physical activity and prostate cancer among workers using a job exposure matrix. Cancer Causes Control 19, 107–114 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-007-9076-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-007-9076-7

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