Skip to main content

Table 1 Select characteristics of AHS farm spouses at enrollment with OC insecticide personal use information (n = 28,909)a

From: A prospective study of cancer risk among Agricultural Health Study farm spouses associated with personal use of organochlorine insecticides

 

Any OC useb

 

Never

Ever

 

N = 26,718

%

N = 2,191

%

p value±

Age at enrollment

 ≤ 44

13,153

49.23

447

20.40

< .0001

 45–54

6,677

24.99

771

35.19

 

 55–64

4,823

18.05

731

33.36

 

 ≥ 65

2,065

7.73

242

11.05

 

Race

 White

26,164

97.93

2,178

99.4

< .0001

 Other

510

1.91

8

0.37

 

 Missing

44

0.16

5

0.23

 

State of Residence

 North Carolina

8,739

32.71

632

28.85

0.0002

 Iowa

17,979

67.29

1,559

71.15

 

Educational Attainment

 High School or less

13,905

52.04

1,102

50.3

0.0015

 Some College or College Graduate

8,662

32.42

679

30.99

 

 1 or more years of Graduate School

3,833

14.35

378

17.25

 

 Missing

318

1.19

32

1.46

 

Body Mass Index

 0–24.99

11,756

40.67

902

41.17

< .0001

 25.00–29.99

7,448

25.76

717

32.72

 

 ≥ 30.00

4,298

14.87

440

20.08

 

 Missing

3,216

11.12

132

6.02

 

Alcohol

 Never

12,042

45.07

939

42.86

0.2371

 Less than once/month

7,099

26.57

603

27.52

 

 ≥ 1–3 times per month

7,277

27.24

621

28.34

 

 Missing

300

1.12

28

1.28

 

Cigarette Smoking (Pack-years)

 Never Smoker

18,820

70.44

1,493

68.14

0.0003

 ≤ 6.75

3,544

13.26

294

13.42

 

 6.751–16.75

1,752

6.56

127

5.80

 

 ≥ 16.751

1,700

6.36

186

8.49

 

 Missing

902

3.38

91

4.15

 

Family History of Cancer

 No/Missing

13,949

52.21

949

43.31

< .0001

 Yes

12,769

47.79

1,242

56.69

 

Grew up on a farm

 No

10,913

40.85

534

24.37

< .0001

 Yes

15,579

58.30

1,643

74.99

 

 Missingc

226

0.85

14

0.64

 

Menopause at Enrollment

 No

8,922

33.39

534

24.37

< .0001

 Yes

6,777

25.36

1,127

51.44

 

 Unsure

245

0.92

22

1.00

 

 Missingc

10,774

40.32

508

23.19

 

Number of Live Births

 0

235

0.88

29

1.32

< .0001

 1 or 2

7,216

27.01

688

31.40

 

 > 2

7,526

28.17

887

40.48

 

 Missingc

11,741

43.94

587

26.79

 

Oral Contraceptive Use

 Never

4,236

15.85

576

26.29

< .0001

 Ever

11,722

43.87

1,106

50.48

 

 Missingc

10,760

40.27

509

23.23

 

Age of first menarche

 12 years or less

7,099

26.57

788

35.97

< .0001

 13 years

4,851

18.16

493

22.5

 

 14 years or greater

3,855

14.43

398

18.17

 

 Missingc

10,913

40.85

512

23.37

 

OC Insecticides

 Overall OC (Any OC)

-

-

2,191

7.58

-

 Chlordane

-

-

1,196

4.13

-

 DDT

-

-

1,028

3.55

-

 Lindane

-

-

430

1.47

-

 Aldrin

-

-

235

0.81

-

 Hepatchlor

-

-

222

0.77

-

 Toxaphene

-

-

203

0.70

-

 Dieldrin

-

-

105

0.36

-

  1. AHS Agricultural Health Study, RR relative risks, OC organochlorines
  2. ±Chi Square test for homogeneity
  3. aExcluded: n = 2146 with missing information for personal use of all OCs; n = 905 female spouses diagnosed with cancer prior to enrollment; n = 219 male spouses; n = 161 with missing or 0 person-years of follow-up leaving a total n = 28,909 female farm spouses
  4. bEver use of any of the seven OC insecticides
  5. cFrom Female & Family Health Questionnaire responses