CANCER INCIDENCE AMONG WOMEN LIVING ON FARMS - FINDING FROM THE IOWA WOMENS HEALTH STUDY

The purpose of this study was to determine whether site-specific cance r incidence in women residing on farms is different from those residin g elsewhere, A large population-based cohort of Iowa women 55 to 69 ye ars of age reported in a questionnaire whether or not they lived on a farm, Linkage to a statewide registry identified cancers occurring bet ween 1986 and 1992, Age-adjusted relative risks (RR; 95% confidence in terval) of all cancers (RR = 0.84; 0.76 to 0.92), lung cancer (RR = 0. 32; 0.20 to 0.50), and bladder cancer (RR = 0.33; 0.12 to 0.92) were r educed significantly in farm residents, compared with non-farm residen ts, These findings were largely accounted for by other cancer risk fac tors, most importantly, cigarette smoking. The multivariate adjusted r isk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma was elevated in farm residents for all l ymphoma sites (RR = 1.52; 0.96 to 2.39) and lymph node sites (RR = 1.8 9; 1.13 to 3.18), Reduced risks of smoking-related cancers and elevate d risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma among farm residents have been report ed previously, primarily in men, Our findings suggest that farm women may be exposed to some of the same factors that determine cancer risk in male farmers.