A case control study investigating the effects of levels of physical activity at work as a risk factor for prostate cancer

BACKGROUND: A potential risk factor for prostate cancer is occupational physical activity. The occupational aetiology of prostate cancer remains unclear. The purpose of this research was to examine associations between the level of exposure to various measures of physical activity at work and the risk of Prostate Cancer. METHODS: Using the Finnish Job Exposure Matrix and the occupational history of 1,436 cases and 1,349 matched controls from an Australian case control study; we investigated five related exposure variables considered to be risk factors by comparing odds ratios. RESULTS: Modestly increasing odds ratios were detected with increasing levels of workload but there was no difference in this trend between moderate and high grade tumours. In regard to occupational physical workload no statistically significant association was observed overall but an increasing trend with level of exposure was observed for high grade compared with moderate grade tumours. CONCLUSION: Both workload and physical workload merit further investigation, particularly for the latter in relation to grade of tumour.