Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer
##common.pageHeaderLogo.altText##

Research Article

Vol. 5 No. 2 (1999)

Association of Occupation and Breast Cancer Mortality in the State of Vermont, 1989-1993

  • Dominic F Geffken
  • Melissa J Perry
  • Peter Callas
DOI
https://doi.org/10.26443/mjm.v5i2.747
Submitted
November 12, 2020
Published
2020-12-01

Abstract

Vermont’s breast cancer death rate is among the highest in the U.S. This study analyzed the association between breast cancer mortality and occupation in Vermont women. Given that Vermont is a rural state, one initial hypothesis was that occupational exposure to pesticides might partly explain the high death rate. Death certificate data from 1989-1993 were analyzed to determine relative risk of breast cancer death according to occupation. Case-control analysis demonstrated increased relative risk of breast cancer death for women in two broad occupational groups: 1) Executive, Administrator and Managers and 2) Professionals. Decreased relative risk of breast cancer death was seen for the occupational group of Homemaker. Data indicated that women in the occupational group of Farming, Forestry, and Fishing were not at increased risk of dying from breast cancer. The associations of occupation and breast cancer mortality in Vermont women do not differ significantly from those seen in larger U.S. studies.

References

  1. American Cancer Society. Cancer Facts and Figures. Atlanta, GA; 1995
  2. Miller B, Ries L, Hankey B, et al. SEER Cancer Statistics Review: 1973-1991. Bethesda National Cancer Institute; 1993.
  3. Parker S, Tong T, Bolden S, Wingo P. Cancer Statistics, 1997. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians 47: 5-27; 1997.
  4. Mettlin C. Global breast cancer mortality statistics. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians 49: 138-144; 1999.
  5. Calle EE, Murphy TK, Rodriguez C, et al. Occupation and breast cancer mortality in a prospective cohort of US women. American Journal of Epidemiology 148: 191-197; 1998.
  6. Rubin CH, Burnett CA, Halperin WE, Seligman PJ. Occupation as a risk identifier for breast cancer. American Journal of Public Health 83: 1311-1315; 1993.
  7. Heck KE, Wagener DK, Schatzkin A, et al. Socioeconomic status and breast cancer mortality, 1989 through 1993: an analysis of education data from death certificates. American Journal of Public Health 87: 1218-1222; 1997.
  8. Kelsey JL. Breast cancer epidemiology: summary and future directions. Epidemiological Reviews 15: 256-263; 1993.
  9. Peeters PH, Verbeek AL, Krol A, et al. Age at menarche and breast cancer risk in nulliparous women. Breast Cancer Research and Treatment 33: 55-61; 1995.
  10. Laing AE, Demenais FM, Williams R, et al. Breast cancer risk factors in African-American women: the Howard University Tumor Registry experience. Journal of the National Medical Association 85: 931-939; 1993.
  11. Hoyer AP, Grandjean P, Jorgensen T, et al. Organochlorine exposure and risk of breast cancer. Lancet 352: 1816-1820; 1998.
  12. Ardies CM, Dees C. Xenoestrogens significantly enhance risk for breast cancer during growth and adolescence. Medical Hypotheses 50: 457-464; 1998.
  13. Guttes S, Failing K, Neumann K, et al. Chlororganic pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls in breast tissue of women with benign and malignant breast disease. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 35: 140-147; 1998.
  14. Wolff MS, Toniolo PG, Lee EW, et al. Blood levels of organochlorine residues and risk of breast cancer. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 85: 648-652; 1993.
  15. McMichael A, Haynes S, Tyroler H. Observations on the evaluation of occupational data. Journal of Occupational Medicine 17: 128-131; 1975.
  16. Reviere R, Eberstein IW. Work, marital status, and heart disease. Health Care for Women International 13: 393-399; 1992.
  17. Selikoff IJ. Use of death certificates in epidemiological studies, including occupational hazards: discordance with clinical and autopsy findings. American Journal of Industrial Medicine 22: 469-480; 1992.
  18. Mandel J, Schuman L. Epidemiology of cancer of the prostate. In: Lilienfeld A, ed. Reviews of cancer epidemiology. Volume 1. New York: Elsevier; 1980: 1-83.
  19. Schade WJ, Swanson GM. Comparison of death certificate occupation and industry data with lifetime occupational histories obtained by interview: variations in the accuracy of death certificate entries. American Journal of Industrial Medicine 14: 121-136; 1988.
  20. International Classification of Diseases. 9th Revision, Clinical Modifications (ICD-9-CM). Los Angeles: Practice Management Information Corporation; 1994.
  21. Mantel N, Haenszel W. Statistical aspects of the analysis of data from retrospective studies of disease. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 22: 719-748; 1959.
  22. U.S. Department of Labor. Revising the Standard Occupational Classification System. Bureau of Labor Statistics Report 929; 1999.
  23. U.S. Department of Labor. Occupational compensation survey: Pay only. Burlington Vermont Metropolitan Area. August 1992. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, Bureau of Labor Statistics Bulletin: 3065-3060; 1992.
  24. Holmes V, Esses L. Factors influencing Canadian high school girls’ career motivation. Psychology of Women Quarterly 12: 313-328; 1988.
  25. Picou J, Curry E. Structural, interpersonal and behavioral correlates of female adolescents’ occupational choices. Adolescence 8: 421-432; 1973.
  26. Henneberg M, Louw GJ. Average menarcheal age of higher socioeconomic status urban Cape coloured girls assessed by means of status quo and recall methods. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 96: 1-5; 1995.
  27. Vermont Vital Statistics 1990. Burlington, VT: Vermont Department of Health; 1992.
  28. U.S. Bureau of Census. Fertility of American women: June 1990. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office; 1991.
  29. Wiklund K, Dich J. Cancer risks among female farmers in Sweden. Cancer Causes and Control 5: 449-457; 1994.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.