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A case–control study of breast cancer risk in nurses from Northeastern Ontario, Canada

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Abstract

Purpose

Previously published findings have documented increased breast cancer risks associated with the nursing profession. The aim of the present study was to assess whether an increased risk of breast cancer was associated with nursing in a population-based case–control breast cancer study of women in Northeastern Ontario, Canada.

Methods

A total of 1519 women (1380 never-nurses: 716 controls and 664 cases; 139 ever-nurses: 59 controls and 80 cases) were included in the present study. Study participants filled out a detailed questionnaire which included a history of smoking, general health information, breast cancer risk factors, and a detailed occupational history.

Results

Ever-nurses were at higher, but nonsignificant risk of breast cancer compared to never-nurses (adjusted OR 1.39, 95 % CI 0.93–2.07). Ever-nurses who worked for longer than 10 years were at a significantly increased risk of breast cancer compared to never-nurses (adjusted OR 1.70, 95 % CI 1.04–2.79). A nonsignificant, but increased risk of breast cancer was observed in ever-nurses who worked full-time compared to never-nurses (OR 1.52, 95 % CI 0.92–2.52), while nurses who worked part-time, or both part-time and full-time were not at increased risk. Ever-nurses who worked in a hospital setting had a significantly increased risk of breast cancer (OR 1.65, 95 % CI 1.04–2.62) compared to never-nurses.

Conclusions

The results indicate that the nurses in the present study population are at increased risk of breast cancer. A prolonged duration of nursing years and prolonged intensity (being a full-time nurse) are factors associated with this increased risk.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Northern Cancer Foundation (NCF) for financial support.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Epidemiology, Outcomes and Evaluation Research, Northeast Cancer Centre, Health Sciences North, Sudbury, ON, P3E 5J1, Canada

    Stacey A. Santi, Margaret L. Meigs, Yantao Zhao, Mary A. Bewick & Michael S. Conlon

  2. Advanced Medical Research Institute of Canada, Sudbury, ON, P3E 5J1, Canada

    Robert M. Lafrenie & Michael S. Conlon

  3. Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Sudbury, ON, P3E 2C6, Canada

    Robert M. Lafrenie

  4. Laurentian University, Sudbury, ON, P3E 2C6, Canada

    Robert M. Lafrenie & Michael S. Conlon

Authors
  1. Stacey A. Santi
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  2. Margaret L. Meigs
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  3. Yantao Zhao
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  4. Mary A. Bewick
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  5. Robert M. Lafrenie
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  6. Michael S. Conlon
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stacey A. Santi.

Ethics declarations

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. Funding for the present study was provided by the Northern Cancer Foundation. Ethics approval for the first study was granted from the University of Western Ontario Health Sciences Research Ethics and the Health Sciences North Research Ethics Board. Ethics approval for the second study was granted from the Health Sciences North Research Ethics Board. All women provided informed consent for these two initial studies and agreed that their data could be used in future studies, pending ethics approval of those future studies. All procedures performed in this study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of both Health Sciences North and the University of Western Ontario and with the Declaration of Helsinki 1964 and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Santi, S.A., Meigs, M.L., Zhao, Y. et al. A case–control study of breast cancer risk in nurses from Northeastern Ontario, Canada. Cancer Causes Control 26, 1421–1428 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-015-0633-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-015-0633-1

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