Table 1 Participant characteristics at recruitment among women in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort

From: Oral contraceptives, reproductive history and risk of colorectal cancer in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition

Characteristic

Colorectal cancer cases ( n =1878)

Non-cases ( n =335 924)

Mean (s.d.) age at recruitment (years)

57.4 (8.0)

50.5 (9.7)

Mean (s.d.) body mass index (kg m−2)

25.5 (4.5)

25.0 (4.5)

Mean (s.d.) alcohol intake (g per day)a

10 (13.7)

9.0 (12.2)

Moderately active/active (%)

31.7

34.2

Current smokers (%)

18.5

19.6

Self-reported diabetes mellitus (%)

3.0

2.3

Menopausal status (%)

 Pre-menopausal

11.2

34.2

 Peri-menopausal/unknown

14.7

18.8

 Post-menopausal (natural/surgical)

74.1

47.0

Ever oral contraceptive use (%)

43.8

58.4

Mean (s.d.) duration of oral contraceptive use (years)b

9.2 (9.8)

8.7 (9.3)

Mean (s.d.) age at menarche (years)

13.2 (1.6)

13.1 (1.5)

Mean (s.d.) age at menopause (years)c

49.1 (4.9)

48.6 (5.1)

Ever had a full-term pregnancy (%)

83.5

79.6

Mean (s.d.) number of full-term pregnanciesd

2.4 (1.1)

2.3 (1.0)

Mean (s.d.) age at first full-term pregnancy, yearsd

25.0 (4.4)

24.8 (4.4)

Ever breastfed (%)d

81.2

81.8

  1. aAmong consumers only; 8.8% of the cases and 9.2% of the non-cases were non-consumers of alcohol.
  2. bAmong ever oral contraceptive users only.
  3. cAmong post-menopausal women only.
  4. dAmong women with a full-term pregnancy only.
Back to article page