Occupational variation in the incidence of lip cancer in the Nordic countries

Figures & data

Table 1. Study population by country, and number of lip cancer cases by country, age, and follow-up period.

Characteristics			Lip cancers
			Men		Women
			N	%	N	%
Country, study population (Million), and follow-up period
Total	14.9		14,471	100	3008	100
Denmark	2.0	1971–2003	2639	18	394	13
Finland	3.4	1971–2005	3231	22	868	29
Iceland	0.1	1982–2004	45	0.3	7	0.2
Norway	2.6	1961–2003	2996	21	454	15
Sweden	6.8	1961–2005	5560	38	1285	43
Age at diagnosis
30–49			1087	8	161	5
50–69			7583	52	1010	34
≥70			5801	40	1837	61
Period at diagnosis
1961–1975			3423	24	228	8
1976–1990			6617	46	1037	34
1991–2005			4431	31	1743	58

Table 2. Observed (Obs) and expected (Exp) numbers of lip cancer cases, standardized incidence ratios (SIRs), and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) among men and women in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden during 1961–2005, by occupational category.

Occupational category	Men				Women
	Obs	Exp	SIR	95% CI	Obs	Exp	SIR	95% CI
Administrators	279	629.0	0.44	0.39–0.50	15	15.3	0.98	0.55–1.61
Artistic workers	20	61.7	0.32	0.20–0.50
Assistant nurses	10	13.3	0.75	0.36–1.38	64	51.8	1.24	0.95–1.58
Beverage workers	16	15.5	1.03	0.59–1.67
Bricklayers	117	120.4	0.97	0.80–1.17
Building caretakers	154	159.7	0.96	0.82–1.13	155	141.0	1.10	0.93–1.29
Chemical process workers	202	178.2	1.13	0.98–1.30	7	6.3	1.12	0.45–2.31
Chimney sweeps	11	9.9	1.11	0.55–1.98
Clerical workers	239	462.4	0.52	0.45–0.59	212	224.5	0.94	0.82–1.08
Cooks and stewards	26	31.0	0.84	0.55–1.23	28	34.1	0.82	0.55–1.19
Dentists	13	22.2	0.59	0.31–1.00
Domestic assistants					91	74.1	1.23	0.99–1.53
Drivers	746	666.5	1.12	1.04–1.20
Electrical workers	272	313.5	0.87	0.77–0.98	7	8.5	0.82	0.33–1.69
Engine operators	316	276.0	1.14	1.02–1.28	6	2.5	2.45	0.90–5.33
Farmers	3138	1958.9	1.60	1.55–1.66	68	76.2	0.89	0.69–1.13
Fishermen	384	170.1	2.26	2.04–2.50
Food workers	190	222.5	0.85	0.74–0.98	32	29.1	1.10	0.75–1.55
Forestry workers	445	318.1	1.40	1.27–1.54
Gardeners	677	423.5	1.60	1.48–1.72	136	116.2	1.17	0.99–1.38
Glass makers, etc.	207	178.0	1.16	1.01–1.33	21	16.1	1.31	0.81–2.00
Hairdressers	13	31.6	0.41	0.22–0.70	9	13.1	0.69	0.31–1.30
Journalists	12	28.9	0.42	0.21–0.73
Laboratory assistants	9	13.3	0.68	0.31–1.28
Launderers	10	19.7	0.51	0.24–0.93	13	17.2	0.75	0.40–1.29
Mechanics	701	902.4	0.78	0.72–0.84	8	12.6	0.64	0.27–1.25
Military personnel	66	91.4	0.72	0.56–0.92
Miners and quarry workers	98	70.7	1.39	1.12–1.69
Nurses					44	39.4	1.12	0.81–1.50
‘Other construction workers’^a	725	476.6	1.52	1.41–1.64	6	3.4	1.74	0.64–3.79
‘Other health workers’^b	24	44.5	0.54	0.35–0.80	35	28.3	1.24	0.86–1.72
Packers	355	345.2	1.03	0.92–1.14	28	26.1	1.07	0.71–1.55
Painters	117	199.8	0.59	0.48–0.70
Physicians	16	55.4	0.29	0.17–0.47
Plumbers	80	108.5	0.74	0.58–0.92
Postal workers	82	130.6	0.63	0.50–0.78	36	36.8	0.98	0.68–1.35
Printers	36	103.4	0.35	0.24–0.48	10	8.0	1.25	0.60–2.29
Public safety workers	123	182.2	0.67	0.56–0.81
Religious workers, etc.	82	187.5	0.44	0.35–0.54	17	23.0	0.74	0.43–1.18
Sales agents	301	562.2	0.54	0.48–0.60	29	30.2	0.96	0.64–1.38
Seamen	185	154.8	1.19	1.03–1.38
Shoe and leather workers	32	55.6	0.58	0.39–0.81
Shop workers	198	365.5	0.54	0.47–0.62	146	151.9	0.96	0.81–1.13
Smelting workers	195	221.8	0.88	0.76–1.01
Teachers	136	316.7	0.43	0.36–0.51	72	77.9	0.92	0.72–1.16
Technical workers, etc.	485	853.3	0.57	0.52–0.62	11	10.4	1.06	0.53–1.90
Textile workers	97	137.9	0.70	0.57–0.86	79	82.9	0.95	0.75–1.19
Transport workers	204	243.0	0.84	0.73–0.96
Waiters	7	21.0	0.33	0.13–0.69	26	32.9	0.79	0.52–1.16
Welders	85	93.9	0.91	0.72–1.12
Wood workers	887	835.2	1.06	0.99–1.13	10	9.7	1.03	0.49–1.89
Other economically active^c	676	530.4	1.27	1.18–1.37	57	53.2	1.07	0.81–1.39
Economically inactive	966	852.3	1.13	1.06–1.21	1500	1511.5	0.99	0.94–1.04

Significantly elevated risks highlighted in bold.

^aIncludes workers in the building and construction industry who do not constitute separate occupational categories in this study, i.e., reinforced concreters, cement finishers, terrazzo workers, insulators, glaziers, underwater workers, and other unspecified building and construction workers.

^bIncludes workers in the health sector who do not constitute separate occupational categories in this study, i.e., veterinarians, pharmacists, physiotherapists. Some of them perform technical tasks related to research and practical application and operational methods in the field of medicine, veterinary medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, and sanitation.

^cConsists of all occupational titles not included in previous occupational categories, i.e., precision mechanic workers, athletes and sportsmen, photographers, bath attendants, and several subcategories of service workers.

Table 3. Standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for male lip cancer patients in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden during 1961–2005, by occupational category and stratified by country.

Occupational category	Denmark		Finland		Iceland		Norway		Sweden
	SIR	95% CI	SIR	95% CI	SIR	95% CI	SIR	95% CI	SIR	95% CI
Administrators	0.40	0.31–0.50	0.36	0.25–0.49			0.50	0.39–0.63	0.49	0.40–0.60
Artistic workers									0.37	0.18–0.68
Beverage workers	1.10	0.53–2.02							1.33	0.49–2.90
Bricklayers	1.16	0.84–1.57	0.84	0.50–1.33			1.19	0.78–1.75	0.75	0.51–1.07
Building caretakers	0.89	0.61–1.24	0.75	0.52–1.05			0.82	0.46–1.36	1.21	0.95–1.53
Chemical process workers	1.10	0.70–1.63	1.00	0.67–1.44			1.22	0.94–1.57	1.12	0.90–1.39
Chimney sweeps			1.78	0.65–3.86
Clerical workers	0.40	0.28–0.56	0.60	0.44–0.80			0.43	0.32–0.58	0.57	0.47–0.69
Cooks and stewards							1.05	0.59–1.74	0.82	0.38–1.56
Dentists							0.98	0.36–2.13	0.59	0.22–1.29
Drivers	1.45	1.26–1.67	0.91	0.77–1.07			1.00	0.83–1.19	1.14	1.01–1.29
Economically inactive	1.27	1.08–1.47	1.28	1.16–1.40	2.24	0.82–4.88	0.95	0.76–1.17	0.94	0.83–1.06
Electrical workers	0.56	0.34–0.88	0.75	0.55–0.98			0.93	0.72–1.17	0.97	0.81–1.15
Engine operators	1.52	1.14–1.97	1.08	0.87–1.33			0.99	0.71–1.34	1.14	0.96–1.36
Farmers	1.76	1.62–1.90	1.53	1.44–1.63	2.18	1.04–4.01	1.45	1.33–1.57	1.68	1.58–1.79
Fishermen	3.19	2.42–4.14	1.79	0.98–3.0			1.92	1.68–2.19	3.65	2.90–4.55
Food workers	0.92	0.71–1.18	0.94	0.57–1.45			0.82	0.60–1.10	0.77	0.58–1.00
Forestry workers	2.35	1.40–3.72	1.35	1.12–1.61			1.58	1.31–1.90	1.29	1.11–1.49
Gardeners	1.34	1.05–1.70	1.53	1.27–1.83			1.44	1.20–1.70	1.76	1.58–1.96
Glass makers, etc.	1.26	0.94–1.65	0.92	0.61–1.33			0.82	0.51–1.25	1.32	1.08–1.60
Hairdressers									0.47	0.19–0.97
Journalists									0.39	0.13–0.92
Mechanics	0.78	0.64–0.94	0.57	0.46–0.69			0.68	0.56–0.82	0.90	0.81–1.00
Military personnel			0.61	0.26–1.20			0.76	0.46–1.18	0.95	0.66–1.32
Miners and quarry workers			1.44	0.89–2.2			1.56	1.04–2.24	1.28	0.94–1.72
‘Other construction workers’^a	1.97	1.74–2.23	1.21	1.03–1.42			1.39	1.05–1.79	1.46	1.28–1.65
‘Other health workers’^b			0.62	0.23–1.35					0.86	0.48–1.42
Packers	1.12	0.80–1.51	1.20	0.95–1.49			0.83	0.65–1.05	1.05	0.89–1.23
Painters	0.55	0.33–0.87	0.73	0.50–1.05			0.65	0.41–0.96	0.51	0.37–0.68
Physicians							0.37	0.12–0.86	0.52	0.25–0.96
Plumbers	0.70	0.32–1.32	0.73	0.45–1.13			0.67	0.35–1.14	0.79	0.56–1.08
Postal workers	0.88	0.55–1.33	0.34	0.15–0.64			0.73	0.44–1.14	0.61	0.42–0.86
Printers	0.22	0.07–0.51	0.44	0.18–0.92			0.29	0.11–0.63	0.41	0.24–0.65
Public safety workers	0.61	0.37–0.94	0.61	0.41–0.87			0.72	0.46–1.06	0.72	0.52–0.96
Religious workers, etc.	0.46	0.25–0.78	0.26	0.12–0.5			0.39	0.22–0.64	0.53	0.38–0.71
Sales agents	0.60	0.39–0.88	0.48	0.36–0.64			0.51	0.39–0.65	0.55	0.47–0.65
Seamen	1.44	0.96–2.09	1.25	0.79–1.87			1.06	0.85–1.30	1.42	1.03–1.92
Shoe and leather workers							0.76	0.36–1.39	0.62	0.36–0.99
Shop workers	0.47	0.38–0.58	0.62	0.40–0.91			0.69	0.47–0.98	0.58	0.43–0.76
Smelting workers	0.81	0.59–1.09	1.02	0.68–1.47			1.03	0.74–1.41	0.81	0.65–1.01
Teachers	0.48	0.33–0.67	0.38	0.25–0.56			0.44	0.30–0.62	0.42	0.31–0.56
Technical workers, etc.	0.45	0.35–0.57	0.49	0.39–0.62			0.47	0.34–0.64	0.66	0.58–0.74
Textile workers	0.49	0.26–0.86	0.78	0.44–1.29			0.75	0.47–1.14	0.74	0.55–0.98
Transport workers	0.84	0.58–1.17	0.76	0.56–1.03			0.74	0.52–1.03	0.95	0.76–1.16
Welders			0.53	0.27–0.92			1.27	0.83–1.87	0.93	0.68–1.24
Wood workers	1.02	0.83–1.24	1.06	0.92–1.21			1.15	1.01–1.30	1.02	0.91–1.14
Other economically active^c	1.12	0.94–1.33	0.98	0.73–1.28			1.42	1.24–1.61	1.34	1.18–1.52
Economically inactive	1.27	1.08–1.47	1.28	1.16–1.40	2.24	0.82–4.88	0.95	0.76–1.17	0.94	0.83–1.06

Significantly elevated risks highlighted in bold.

^aSee footnote in Table 2, ^bsee footnote in Table 2, and ^csee footnote in Table 2.

Table 4. Standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for male lip cancer patients in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden during 1961–2005, by occupational category and stratified by 15-year periods.

Occupational category	1961–1975		1976–1990		1991–2005
	SIR	95% CI	SIR	95% CI	SIR	95% CI
Administrators	0.35	0.26–0.47	0.41	0.34–0.49	0.55	0.45–0.66
Artistic workers	0.40	0.13–0.93	0.26	0.11–0.54	0.36	0.15–0.71
Assistant nurses			0.87	0.28–2.03
Beverage workers	1.45	0.47–3.38	0.89	0.36–1.83
Bricklayers	1.00	0.67–1.45	0.92	0.69–1.21	1.03	0.72–1.43
Building caretakers	0.91	0.64–1.27	1.02	0.81–1.28	0.91	0.66–1.23
Chemical process workers	1.01	0.75–1.33	1.31	1.07–1.59	0.95	0.70–1.28
Chimney sweeps	2.29	0.74–5.33	0.65	0.13–1.90
Clerical workers	0.45	0.33–0.60	0.45	0.36–0.55	0.66	0.53–0.80
Cooks and stewards	0.94	0.38–1.93	0.53	0.21–1.08	1.18	0.61–2.06
Dentists			0.53	0.17–1.23
Drivers	0.93	0.77–1.11	1.20	1.08–1.33	1.12	0.99–1.27
Electrical workers	0.91	0.69–1.17	0.72	0.58–0.88	1.02	0.84–1.22
Engine operators	1.08	0.83–1.39	1.12	0.94–1.32	1.21	1.01–1.45
Farmers	1.67	1.56–1.79	1.56	1.49–1.65	1.60	1.50–1.72
Fishermen	2.32	1.93–2.77	2.27	1.95–2.63	2.15	1.71–2.67
Food workers	0.78	0.56–1.06	0.83	0.66–1.02	0.96	0.74–1.23
Forestry workers	1.33	1.10–1.60	1.48	1.29–1.70	1.33	1.10–1.59
Gardeners	1.68	1.45–1.94	1.47	1.31–1.65	1.73	1.50–1.98
Glass makers, etc.	1.36	1.03–1.76	1.18	0.96–1.44	0.98	0.74–1.29
Hairdressers			0.47	0.19–0.96	0.59	0.19–1.37
Journalists					0.48	0.16–1.13
Laboratory assistants					0.91	0.30–2.14
Launderers			0.76	0.31–1.57
Mechanics	0.80	0.68–0.94	0.80	0.72–0.90	0.73	0.63–0.83
Military personnel	0.64	0.31–1.18	0.73	0.49–1.06	0.74	0.49–1.08
Miners and quarry workers	1.25	0.80–1.86	1.38	1.00–1.85	1.53	1.03–2.18
‘Other construction workers’^a	1.70	1.46–1.97	1.46	1.31–1.62	1.49	1.30–1.71
‘Other health workers’^b			0.45	0.20–0.85	0.77	0.40–1.34
Packers	0.80	0.63–1.00	1.04	0.89–1.21	1.25	1.03–1.51
Painters	0.47	0.30–0.70	0.61	0.46–0.80	0.64	0.45–0.88
Physicians			0.42	0.20–0.77	0.24	0.08–0.56
Plumbers	0.75	0.43–1.19	0.72	0.50–1.01	0.75	0.51–1.08
Postal workers	0.55	0.32–0.89	0.59	0.41–0.83	0.73	0.49–1.03
Printers	0.21	0.07–0.50	0.37	0.22–0.60	0.41	0.22–0.68
Public safety workers	0.63	0.40–0.94	0.71	0.54–0.92	0.66	0.47–0.89
Religious workers etc.	0.46	0.27–0.73	0.40	0.27–0.57	0.47	0.32–0.66
Sales agents	0.47	0.36–0.60	0.51	0.42–0.61	0.62	0.51–0.75
Seamen	1.28	0.94–1.69	1.04	0.82–1.31	1.36	1.04–1.73
Shoe and leather workers	0.40	0.16–0.82	0.55	0.30–0.92	0.88	0.44–1.57
Shop workers	0.38	0.24–0.56	0.50	0.40–0.61	0.69	0.55–0.86
Smelting workers	0.84	0.62–1.12	0.91	0.73–1.11	0.87	0.65–1.13
Teachers	0.30	0.18–0.49	0.37	0.27–0.49	0.55	0.43–0.69
Technical workers, etc.	0.60	0.48–0.73	0.53	0.45–0.61	0.60	0.52–0.69
Textile workers	0.65	0.42–0.97	0.52	0.36–0.73	1.07	0.76–1.46
Transport workers	0.89	0.64–1.20	0.85	0.69–1.04	0.80	0.62–1.01
Waiters					0.78	0.25–1.83
Welders	0.70	0.36–1.23	0.81	0.55–1.15	1.09	0.78–1.47
Wood workers	0.99	0.86–1.14	1.09	0.98–1.20	1.08	0.96–1.22
Other economically active^c	1.35	1.17–1.55	1.19	1.06–1.34	1.35	1.15–1.56
Economically inactive	0.92	0.81–1.04	1.25	1.14–1.36	1.20	1.04–1.38

Significantly elevated risks highlighted in bold.

^aSee footnote in Table 2, ^bsee footnote in Table 2, and ^csee footnote in Table 2.

Table 5. Standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for male lip cancer patients in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden during 1961–2005, by occupational category and age at follow-up.

Occupational category	Age at follow-up
	30–49		50–69		>70
	SIR	95% CI	SIR	95% CI	SIR	95% CI
Administrators	0.32	0.18–0.52	0.41	0.35–0.49	0.51	0.42–0.60
Artistic workers			0.27	0.12–0.52	0.40	0.18–0.75
Beverage workers			1.16	0.56–2.13
Bricklayers	1.30	0.65–2.32	1.04	0.81–1.33	0.82	0.58–1.12
Building caretakers	0.77	0.33–1.53	0.92	0.72–1.15	1.05	0.82–1.33
Chemical process workers	1.55	0.92–2.46	1.25	1.04–1.51	0.92	0.71–1.16
Chimney sweeps			0.9	0.29–2.10
Clerical workers	0.41	0.24–0.67	0.49	0.41–0.59	0.57	0.47–0.70
Cooks and stewards	1.41	0.46–3.30	0.81	0.44–1.36	0.69	0.28–1.42
Dentists			0.44	0.14–1.02	0.81	0.33–1.67
Drivers	1.16	0.91–1.45	1.17	1.06–1.28	1.03	0.90–1.17
Electrical workers	0.76	0.49–1.13	0.91	0.77–1.06	0.84	0.67–1.03
Engine operators	1.27	0.87–1.78	1.16	1.00–1.34	1.09	0.89–1.32
Farmers	1.90	1.61–2.22	1.65	1.57–1.73	1.53	1.45–1.61
Fishermen	3.90	2.80–5.28	2.31	2.01–2.65	1.95	1.64–2.30
Food workers	1.07	0.63–1.69	0.85	0.70–1.04	0.81	0.63–1.03
Forestry workers	1.09	0.68–1.67	1.45	1.27–1.65	1.38	1.19–1.59
Gardeners	1.98	1.47–2.61	1.65	1.49–1.84	1.48	1.32–1.67
Glass makers, etc.	1.26	0.73–2.01	1.15	0.94–1.39	1.16	0.92–1.44
Hairdressers			0.48	0.21–0.95	0.38	0.12–0.89
Journalists			0.51	0.22–1.01
Laboratory assistants					1.36	0.44–3.18
Launderers			0.49	0.16–1.14	0.61	0.20–1.43
Mechanics	0.97	0.77–1.20	0.77	0.69–0.85	0.74	0.65–0.84
Military personnel	0.82	0.37–1.56	0.78	0.56–1.06	0.59	0.34–0.94
Miners and quarry workers	1.37	0.55–2.82	1.46	1.10–1.90	1.29	0.90–1.79
‘Other construction workers’^a	1.86	1.42–2.41	1.59	1.44–1.76	1.37	1.20–1.54
‘Other health workers’^b			0.34	0.15–0.66	0.90	0.50–1.49
Packers	0.82	0.48–1.29	0.95	0.81–1.11	1.16	0.99–1.35
Painters	0.90	0.48–1.54	0.57	0.43–0.73	0.55	0.40–0.74
Physicians			0.21	0.08–0.45	0.49	0.23–0.89
Plumbers			0.86	0.64–1.13	0.67	0.43–0.99
Postal workers			0.62	0.45–0.84	0.72	0.50–0.99
Printers			0.35	0.22–0.55	0.32	0.17–0.57
Public safety workers	0.54	0.23–1.07	0.73	0.57–0.92	0.62	0.45–0.84
Religious workers etc.	0.37	0.15–0.75	0.44	0.32–0.59	0.46	0.31–0.64
Sales agents	0.67	0.46–0.95	0.52	0.44–0.61	0.53	0.43–0.63
Seamen	1.38	0.85–2.11	1.26	1.03–1.51	1.04	0.78–1.35
Shoe and leather workers			0.48	0.25–0.82	0.70	0.41–1.10
Shop workers	0.71	0.46–1.06	0.51	0.41–0.61	0.55	0.43–0.70
Smelting workers	0.94	0.54–1.53	0.89	0.73–1.08	0.85	0.67–1.07
Teachers	0.46	0.26–0.75	0.36	0.28–0.46	0.53	0.40–0.68
Technical workers, etc.	0.40	0.28–0.55	0.55	0.49–0.63	0.64	0.55–0.73
Textile workers	0.88	0.35–1.81	0.80	0.61–1.04	0.56	0.39–0.79
Transport workers	1.00	0.60–1.55	0.81	0.66–0.98	0.85	0.67–1.06
Welders	1.07	0.55–1.87	0.88	0.65–1.17	0.89	0.58–1.30
Wood workers	1.39	1.09–1.74	1.01	0.92–1.11	1.08	0.97–1.19
Other economically active^c	0.90	0.61–1.28	1.35	1.21–1.49	1.24	1.10–1.40
Economically inactive	1.41	1.08–1.81	1.15	1.05–1.25	1.08	0.98–1.19

Significantly elevated risks highlighted in bold.

^aSee footnote in Table 2, ^bsee footnote in Table 2, and ^csee footnote in Table 2.

Data availability statement

Most of the tabulated data available on https://astra.cancer.fi/NOCCA/