Risk of betel chewing for oesophageal cancer in Taiwan
2001
Risk of Betel Chewing for Oesophageal Cancer in Taiwan
Sample size: 381
publication
Evidence: high
Author Information
Author(s): Wu M-T, Lee Y-C, Chen C-J, Yang P-W, Lee C-J, Wu D-C, Hsu H-K, Ho C-K, Kao E-L, Lee J-M
Primary Institution: Division of Environmental Health and Occupational Medicine, National Health Research Institutes, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Hypothesis
Does betel chewing increase the risk of oesophageal cancer in Taiwan?
Conclusion
Betel chewing significantly increases the risk of developing oesophageal cancer.
Supporting Evidence
- Subjects who chewed betel for 1 to 495 years had a 3.6-fold increased risk of oesophageal cancer.
- Subjects who chewed betel for more than 495 years had a 9.2-fold increased risk of oesophageal cancer.
Takeaway
Chewing betel can make you much more likely to get a type of throat cancer.
Methodology
The study compared 104 patients with squamous-cell oesophageal carcinoma to 277 controls, adjusting for confounding factors.
Participant Demographics
Patients and controls from Taiwan.
Statistical Information
Confidence Interval
95% Cl = 1.3–10.1 and 95% Cl = 1.8–46.7
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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