title: Work stress and risk of cancer: meta-analysis of 5700 incident cancer events in 116,000 European men and women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate whether work related stress, measured and defined as job strain, is associated with the overall risk of cancer and the risk of colorectal, lung, breast, or prostate cancers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Meta-analysis of pooled prospective individual participant data from 12 European cohort studies including 116,056 men and women aged 17-70 who were free from cancer at study baseline and were followed-up for a median of 12 years. Work stress was measured and defined as job strain, which was self reported at baseline. Incident cancers (all n=5765, colorectal cancer n=522, lung cancer n=374, breast cancer n=1010, prostate cancer n=865) were ascertained from cancer, hospital admission, and death registers. Data were analysed in each study with Cox regression and the study specific estimates pooled in meta-analyses. Models were adjusted for age, sex, socioeconomic position, body mass index (BMI), smoking, and alcohol intake
  
  
  RESULTS
  A harmonised measure of work stress, high job strain, was not associated with overall risk of cancer (hazard ratio 0.97, 95% confidence interval 0.90 to 1.04) in the multivariable adjusted analyses. Similarly, no association was observed between job strain and the risk of colorectal (1.16, 0.90 to 1.48), lung (1.17, 0.88 to 1.54), breast (0.97, 0.82 to 1.14), or prostate (0.86, 0.68 to 1.09) cancers. There was no clear evidence for an association between the categories of job strain and the risk of cancer.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings suggest that work related stress, measured and defined as job strain, at baseline is unlikely to be an important risk factor for colorectal, lung, breast, or prostate cancers.
authors: Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, 00250 Helsinki, Finland. katriina.heikkila@ttl.fi
authors: Katriina
authors: K
authors: Heikkilä
authors: Solja T
authors: ST
authors: Nyberg
authors: Töres
authors: T
authors: Theorell
authors: Eleonor I
authors: EI
authors: Fransson
authors: Lars
authors: L
authors: Alfredsson
authors: Jakob B
authors: JB
authors: Bjorner
authors: Sébastien
authors: S
authors: Bonenfant
authors: Marianne
authors: M
authors: Borritz
authors: Kim
authors: K
authors: Bouillon
authors: Herman
authors: H
authors: Burr
authors: Nico
authors: N
authors: Dragano
authors: Goedele A
authors: GA
authors: Geuskens
authors: Marcel
authors: M
authors: Goldberg
authors: Mark
authors: M
authors: Hamer
authors: Wendela E
authors: WE
authors: Hooftman
authors: Irene L
authors: IL
authors: Houtman
authors: Matti
authors: M
authors: Joensuu
authors: Anders
authors: A
authors: Knutsson
authors: Markku
authors: M
authors: Koskenvuo
authors: Aki
authors: A
authors: Koskinen
authors: Anne
authors: A
authors: Kouvonen
authors: Ida E H
authors: IE
authors: Madsen
authors: Linda L
authors: LL
authors: Magnusson Hanson
authors: Michael G
authors: MG
authors: Marmot
authors: Martin L
authors: ML
authors: Nielsen
authors: Maria
authors: M
authors: Nordin
authors: Tuula
authors: T
authors: Oksanen
authors: Jaana
authors: J
authors: Pentti
authors: Paula
authors: P
authors: Salo
authors: Reiner
authors: R
authors: Rugulies
authors: Andrew
authors: A
authors: Steptoe
authors: Sakari
authors: S
authors: Suominen
authors: Jussi
authors: J
authors: Vahtera
authors: Marianna
authors: M
authors: Virtanen
authors: Ari
authors: A
authors: Väänänen
authors: Peter
authors: P
authors: Westerholm
authors: Hugo
authors: H
authors: Westerlund
authors: Marie
authors: M
authors: Zins
authors: Jane E
authors: JE
authors: Ferrie
authors: Archana
authors: A
authors: Singh-Manoux
authors: G David
authors: GD
authors: Batty
authors: Mika
authors: M
authors: Kivimäki
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055815:Young Adult
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