Social ties and risk for cancer – a prospective cohort study

Figures & data

Table I.  Cancer cases (n = 987) in women and men in the third survey of the Copenhagen City Heart Study (1991–2002)

Cancer site	Women (n = 4 710) No. (%)	Men (n = 3 838) No. (%)	Total (n = 8 548) No. (%)
Breast	146 (3.1)	1 (0.0)	147 (1.7)
Lung	53 (1.1)	89 (2.3)	142 (1.7)
Colon	53 (1.1)	37 (1.0)	90 (1.1)
Prostate	0 (0.0)	80 (2.1)	80 (0.9)
Bladder	21 (0.5)	55 (1.4)	76 (0.9)
Liver	16 (0.3)	24 (0.6)	40 (0.5)
Rectum	12 (0.3)	27 (0.7)	39 (0.5)
Skin	21 (0.5)	15 (0.4)	36 (0.4)
Metastases	21 (0.5)	14 (0.4)	35 (0.4)
Pancreas	19 (0.4)	15 (0.4)	34 (0.4)
Kidney	9 (0.2)	21 (0.6)	30 (0.4)
Ovary	29 (0.6)	0 (0.0)	29 (0.3)
Brain and nervous system	13 (0.3)	15 (0.4)	28 (0.3)
Corpus uteri	25 (0.5)	0 (0.0)	25 (0.3)
Leukaemia	12 (0.3)	12 (0.3)	24 (0.3)
Stomach	6 (0.1)	12 (0.3)	18 (0.2)
Oesophagus	2 (0.0)	13 (0.3)	15 (0.2)
Unspecified malignant lymphoma	6 (0.1)	7 (0.2)	13 (0.2)
Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma	6 (0.1)	6 (0.2)	12 (0.1)
Larynx	1 (0.0)	10 (0.3)	11 (0.1)
Cervix uteri	10 (0.2)	0 (0.0)	10 (0.1)
Multiple myeloma	4 (0.1)	5 (0.1)	9 (0.1)
Pharynx	2 (0.0)	5 (0.1)	7 (0.1)
Mouth	2 (0.0)	4 (0.1)	6 (0.1)
Lip	4 (0.1)	2 (0.1)	6 (0.1)
Pleura	1 (0.0)	3 (0.1)	4 (0.1)
Other female genital organs	3 (0.1)	0 (0.0)	3 (0.0)
Unspecified cancer site	2 (0.0)	1 (0.0)	3 (0.0)
Small intestines	2 (0.0)	0 (0.0)	2 (0.0)
Tongue	0 (0.0)	2 (0.1)	2 (0.0)
Bone	2 (0.0)	0 (0.0)	2 (0.0)
Connective tissue	1 (0.0)	1 (0.0)	2 (0.0)
Salivary glands	0 (0.0)	1 (0.0)	1 (0.0)
Nasal cavities	0 (0.0)	1 (0.0)	1 (0.0)
Other male genital organs	0 (0.0)	1 (0.0)	1 (0.0)
Eye	1 (0.0)	0 (0.0)	1 (0.0)
Thyroid	0 (0.0)	1 (0.0)	1 (0.0)
Endocrinal glands	1 (0.0)	0 (0.0)	1 (0.0)
Hodgkin's Disease	0 (0.0)	1 (0.0)	1 (0.0)

Table II.  Sample characteristics at date of entry of 4710 women and 3838 men in the third survey of the Copenhagen City Heart Study (1991–2002), Denmark

Characteristic	Extent of social contacts (score)
	Low (0–4)	Medium (5–6)	High (7–12)	p^a
Women	1057	1700	1953
Age in years (mean, SD)	66.8 (11.3)	60.1 (14.5)	51.4 (14.8)	<0.001
Alcohol abstinence (%)	38.7	29.9	21.8	<0.001
Alcohol consumption in drinks per day (mean, SD)	0.8 (1.2)	0.8 (1.1)	0.9 (1.0)	0.027
Body mass index (mean, SD)	25.5 (4.7)	25.4 (4.6)	24.9 (4.6)	<0.001
Physically inactive (%)	17.2	11.5	8.2	<0.001
Tobacco consumption
Never smoked (%)	30.9	30.4	32.8	0.250
Current smoker > 25 g per day (%)	3.5	4.5	2.8	0.021
Living alone (%)	53.4	47.4	33.8	<0.001
Schooling > 11 years (%)	11.2	20.1	22.9	<0.001
Low household income (%)	37.5	26.6	14.5	<0.001
Men	1018	1419	1401
Age in years (mean, SD)	64.0 (12.7)	57.9 (14.7)	49.3 (14.3)	<0.001
Alcohol abstinence (%)	16.6	11.0	9.2	<0.001
Alcohol consumption in drinks per day (mean, SD)	2.0 (2.5)	2.0 (2.0)	2.1 (2.0)	0.142
Body mass index (mean, SD)	26.5 (4.2)	26.2 (3.9)	25.7 (3.6)	<0.001
Physically inactive (%)	17.2	12.0	8.5	<0.001
Tobacco consumption
Never smoked (%)	14.8	16.9	22.7	<0.001
Current smoker > 25 g per day (%)	13.1	12.4	12.1	0.760
Living alone (%)	37.8	28.6	21.8	<0.001
Schooling > 11 years (%)	15.1	22.3	36.0	<0.001
Low household income (%)	22.0	14.3	9.2	<0.001

^aTwo-sided p values calculated from analysis of variance or chi-square

Table III.  Cancer risk by social contact score in 4 710 women in the third survey of the Copenhagen City Heart Study (1991–2002), Denmark

		Adjustment
		None	Behavioural and socioeconomic factors^a	Health and satisfaction with social contacts^b	Full^c
Social contact score	Cases/n	HR (95% CI)	HR (95% CI)	HR (95% CI)	HR (95% CI)
Breast cancer (C170)
Low (0–4)^d	31/1057	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
Medium (5–6)	55/1700	1.22 (0.78–1.90)	1.16 (0.74–1.82)	1.24 (0.79–1.94)	1.19 (0.76–1.86)
High (7–12)	60/1953	1.45 (0.92–2.29)	1.33 (0.84–2.13)	1.50 (0.94–2.39)	1.39 (0.86–2.23)
Lung cancer (C162)
Low (0–4)^d	13/1057	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
Medium (5–6)	20/1700	1.21 (0.60–2.44)	1.33 (0.65–2.71)	1.27 (0.63–2.59)	1.37 (0.67–2.83)
High (7–12)	20/1953	1.69 (0.82–3.45)	2.05 (0.99–4.27)	1.84 (0.88–3.85)	2.16 (1.02–4.60)
Colorectal cancers^e
Low (0–4)^d	14/1057	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
Medium (5–6)	27/1700	1.57 (0.82–3.00)	1.58 (0.82–3.03)	1.50 (0.78–2.89)	1.50 (0.78–2.90)
High (7–12)	24/1953	2.00 (1.02–3.93)	2.01 (1.01–3.98)	1.90 (0.95–3.78)	1.91 (0.95–3.82)

^aPhysical activity, tobacco consumption, alcohol abstinence, daily alcohol consumption, body mass index, years of schooling, household income, cohabitation

^bPerceived health and satisfaction with social contacts

^cAll confounding factors combined

^dReference category

^eCancers of the colon (ICD-7, C153) and rectum (ICD-7, C154)

Table IV.  Cancer risk by social contact score in 3 838 men in the third survey of the Copenhagen City Heart Study (1991–2002), Denmark

		Adjustment
		None	Behavioural and socioeconomic factors^a	Health and satisfaction with social contacts^b	Full^c
Social contact score	Cases/n	HR (95% CI)	HR (95% CI)	HR (95% CI)	HR (95% CI)
Prostate cancer
Low (0–4)^d	35/1018	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
Medium (5–6)	29/1419	0.76 (0.46–1.24)	0.76 (0.46–1.26)	0.78 (0.47–1.29)	0.79 (0.47–1.32)
High (7–12)	16/1401	0.76 (0.41–1.38)	0.78 (0.42–1.45)	0.78 (0.42–1.45)	0.81 (0.43–1.54)
Lung cancer
Low (0–4)^d	25/1018	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
Medium (5–6)	40/1419	1.30 (0.79–2.15)	1.38 (0.83–2.29)	1.32 (0.79–2.19)	1.34 (0.80–2.25)
High (7–12)	24/1401	1.22 (0.69–2.16)	1.26 (0.70–2.26)	1.27 (0.71–2.29)	1.24 (0.68–2.24)
Colorectal cancers^e
Low (0–4)^d	25/1018	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
Medium (5–6)	22/1419	0.78 (0.44–1.38)	0.79 (0.44–1.42)	0.76 (0.43–1.37)	0.78 (0.43–1.41)
High (7–12)	17/1401	0.96 (0.50–1.82)	0.96 (0.49–1.86)	0.94 (0.49–1.82)	0.93 (0.48–1.83)

^aPhysical activity, tobacco consumption, alcohol abstinence, daily alcohol consumption, body mass index, years of schooling, household income, cohabitation

^bPerceived health and satisfaction with social contacts

^cAll confounding factors combined

^dReference category

^eCancers of the colon (ICD-7, C153) and rectum (ICD-7, C154)