PSYCHOSOCIAL-ASPECTS OF WORK AND THE RISK OF COLON-CANCER

Because experimental and epidemiologic evidence indicates that the col on is particularly sensitive to stress, and because work conditions co ntribute to an individual's stress experience, we examined the relatio n of both job stress (defined in terms of perceived job demand and job control) and job social support to the risk of colon cancer in a larg e population-based case-control study (744 pairs) in Los Angeles. Cont rols were individually matched to cases on age, sex, and neighborhood. For jobs held 5 years before, participants in the lowest tertile of j ob control had a slightly increased risk when compared with those in t he highest tertile (multivariate adjusted odds ratio = 1.3; 95% confid ence interval = 1.0-1.6), but there was no evidence of a trend. Lower levels of job social support were associated with a decreased risk of colon cancer (odds ratio = 0.6 for lowest us highest tertile; 95% conf idence interval = 0.4-1.0). We saw no effect for job demand. The effec t of job control appeared to be independent of the level of job demand . We found no consistent pattern of effects associated with jobs held 30 years before. These findings indicate that if job stress, as reflec ted by perceived job demand or control, is a determinant of colon canc er, it is probably not a strong one.