Table 3 Results from analyses of waist circumferencea,b and cancer incidence (n = 26,488)

From: Central body fatness is a stronger predictor of cancer risk than overall body size

 

Cases (male)

Age-adjusted (male)

Cases (male)

Multivariate-adjustedc (male)

Cases (female)

Age-adjusted (female)

Cases (female)

Multivariate-adjustedc (female)

All-cancer

  Below

499

1.0 (Ref)

488

1.0 (Ref)

647

1.0 (Ref)

620

1.0 (Ref)

  Above

510

1.24** (1.10, 1.41)

499

1.22** (1.07, 1.38)

699

1.19** (1.07, 1.33)

671

1.17** (1.04, 1.31)

Prostate cancer

  Below

206

1.0 (Ref)

202

1.0 (Ref)

–

–

–

–

  Above

194

1.12 (0.92, 1.37)

190

1.14 (0.93, 1.39)

–

–

–

–

Breast cancer—premenopausal

  Below

–

–

–

–

124

1.0 (Ref)

121

1.0 (Ref)

  Above

–

–

–

–

70

0.98 (0.73, 1.32)

64

0.87 (0.63, 1.21)

Breast cancer—postmenopausal

  Below

–

–

–

–

125

1.0 (Ref)

120

1.0 (Ref)

  Above

–

–

–

–

161

1.16 (0.92, 1.47)

154

1.20 (0.94, 1.54)

Endometrial cancer

  Below

–

–

–

–

34

1.0 (Ref)

30

1.0 (Ref)

  Above

–

–

–

–

88

3.07** (2.06, 4.59)

81

3.14** (2.04, 4.85)

Colon cancer

  Below

32

1.0 (Ref)

32

1.0 (Ref)

49

1.0 (Ref)

48

1.0 (Ref)

  Above

50

1.89** (1.21, 2.96)

49

1.67* (1.06, 2.65)

59

1.28 (0.87, 1.87)

59

1.25 (0.84, 1.86)

Lung cancer

  Below

32

1.0 (Ref)

30

1.0 (Ref)

72

1.0 (Ref)

67

1.0 (Ref)

  Above

42

1.49† (0.94, 2.36)

41

1.20 (0.73, 1.96)

64

0.83 (0.59, 1.16)

62

0.74 (0.51, 1.06)

Leukemia

  Below

27

1.0 (Ref)

27

1.0 (Ref)

21

1.0 (Ref)

20

1.0 (Ref)

  Above

27

1.29 (0.75, 2.21)

25

1.25 (0.71, 2.18)

23

0.79 (0.39, 1.59)

22

1.08 (0.57, 2.03)

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma

  Below

20

1.0 (Ref)

20

1.0 (Ref)

23

1.0 (Ref)

22

1.0 (Ref)

  Above

33

2.18** (1.24, 3.81)

33

2.11** (1.19, 3.75)

24

1.10 (0.62, 1.97)

23

1.05 (0.57, 1.92)

Hematological cancers

  Below

49

1.0 (Ref)

49

1.0 (Ref)

45

1.0 (Ref)

43

1.0 (Ref)

  Above

60

1.61* (1.10, 2.35)

58

1.56* (1.05, 2.30)

49

1.17 (0.78, 1.77)

47

1.12 (0.73, 1.71)

  1. Note: Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) from Cox regression models are presented
  2. aWaist circumference below guidelines: <102 cm for men, <88 cm for women
  3. bWaist circumference above guidelines: ≥102 cm for men, ≥88 cm for women
  4. cAdjusted for: age (continuous), ethnicity (white/other), marital status (married or living with someone/divorced, separated, or widowed/single, never married), highest level of education (high school or less/some post-high school education/post-high school certificate or degree), total household income ($0 to $49,999/$50,000 to $99,999/≥$100,000), geographical area of residence (urban/rural), smoking status (current/former/never), alcohol consumption (grams of ethanol per day), energy intake (kilocalories per day), total physical activity (MET-hours per week), history of diabetes (yes/no), family history of cancer (yes/no), pack-years of cigarettes (lung cancer only), fiber intake (grams per day) (colon cancer only), menopausal status (pre-menopause/post-menopause) (endometrial cancer), years of birth control use (0–5 years/>5 years), (breast and endometrial cancers), history of breast cancer screening (yes/no) (breast cancer only), history of colon cancer screening (yes/no) (colon cancer only), history of prostate cancer screening (yes/no) (prostate cancer only), and ever used female hormones for menopause (yes/no) (breast cancer only)
  5. **p < 0.01; *p < 0.05; †p < 0.1
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