Table 2

Relative risk of selected cancer incidence of female registered nurses according to cumulative years worked in oncology or a cancer center (method 1), 1996-2000 (N = 56,213)^1,2,3,4

Site (ICD-9 code)

Employment Duration

Observed

RR

CI (95%)

p-value⁵

All cancers except non-melanoma skin

never

3078

1.00

0.135

< 5 years

14

1.10

0.65-1.87

> 5 years

7

1.89

0.90-3.97

ever

21

1.28

0.83-1.79

Breast (174)

never

1274

1.00

0.379

< 5 years

9

1.75

0.91-3.38

> 5 years

3

2.10

0.67-6.53

ever

12

1.83

1.03-3.23

Uterus (179-182)

never

302

1.00

0.068

< 5 years

3

2.50

0.80-7.82

> 5 years

1

2.85

0.40-20.38

ever

4

2.58

0.96-6.94

¹Based on Poisson regression using a 10-year lag.

²Cancers with an incidence of less than 3 cases were excluded.

³N for ever worked in oncology or cancer center = 905.

⁴Adjusted for age and calendar year.

⁵Significance of the trend, derived from chi-square analysis.

Ratner et al. BMC Nursing 2010 9:15   doi:10.1186/1472-6955-9-15