The association between active participation in a sports club, physical activity and social network on the development of lung cancer in smokers: a case-control study.
BACKGROUND
This study analyses the effect of active participation in a sports club, physical activity and social networks on the development of lung cancer in patients who smoke. Our hypothesis is that study participants who lack social networks and do not actively participate in a sports club are at a greater risk for lung cancer than those who do.


METHODS
Data for the study were taken from the Cologne Smoking Study (CoSmoS), a retrospective case-control study examining potential psychosocial risk factors for the development of lung cancer. Our sample consisted of n = 158 participants who had suffered lung cancer (diagnosis in the patient document) and n = 144 control group participants. Both groups had a history of smoking.Data on social networks were collected by asking participants whether they participated in a sports club and about the number of friends and relatives in their social environment. In addition, sociodemographic data (gender, age, education, marital status, residence and religion), physical activity and data on pack years (the cumulative number of cigarettes smoked by an individual, calculated by multiplying the number of cigarettes smoked per day by the number of years the person has smoked divided by 20) were collected to control for potential confounders. Logistic regression was used for the statistical analysis.


RESULTS
The results reveal that participants who are physically active are at a lower risk of lung cancer than those who are not (adjusted OR = 0.53*; CI = 0.29-0.97). Older age and lower education seem also to be risk factors for the development of lung cancer. The extent of smoking, furthermore, measured by pack years is statistically significant. Active participation in a sports club, number of friends and relatives had no statistically significant influence on the development of the cancer.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of the study suggest that there is a lower risk for physically active participants to develop lung cancer. In the study sample, physical activity seemed to have a greater protective effect than participation in a sports club or social network of friends and relatives. Further studies have to investigate in more detail physical activity and other club participations.
Institute for Medical Sociology, Health Services Research and Rehabilitation Science (IMVR), Faculty of Human Science and Faculty of Medicine, University of Cologne, Eupener Strasse 129, Cologne 50933, Germany. anna.schmidt@uk-koeln.de
Anna
A
Schmidt
Julia
J
Jung
Nicole
N
Ernstmann
Elke
E
Driller
Melanie
M
Neumann
Andrea
A
Staratschek-Jox
Christian
C
Schneider
Jürgen
J
Wolf
Holger
H
Pfaff
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D000077192:Adenocarcinoma of Lung; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009043:Motor Activity; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects*; D060756:Social Networking; D013177:Sports; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014505:Urban Population