Physical Activity and Breast Cancer Risk
Author Information
Author(s): Matthews C E, Shu X-O, Jin F, Dai Q, Hebert J R, Ruan Z-X, Gao Y-T, Zheng W
Primary Institution: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of South Carolina School of Public Health
Hypothesis
Does lifetime physical activity reduce the risk of breast cancer?
Conclusion
Consistently high activity levels throughout life reduce breast cancer risk, and increasing activity levels in adulthood may further lower this risk.
Supporting Evidence
- Exercise in adolescence reduced breast cancer risk (OR = 0.84).
- Exercise in adulthood further reduced risk (OR = 0.68).
- Exercise in both adolescence and adulthood significantly lowered risk (OR = 0.47).
- Longer participation in exercise correlated with lower risk.
- Lifetime occupational activity was inversely related to breast cancer risk.
Takeaway
Being active throughout your life can help lower the chances of getting breast cancer, and being more active as an adult is especially helpful.
Methodology
In-person interviews were conducted with 1459 women diagnosed with breast cancer and 1556 age-matched controls to assess physical activity levels.
Participant Demographics
Women newly diagnosed with breast cancer and age-matched controls from urban Shanghai.
Statistical Information
P-Value
< 0.01
Confidence Interval
OR (95% CL)
Statistical Significance
p<0.01
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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