Residential Mobility and Breast Cancer in Marin County, California, USA

Geoffrey M. Jacquez, Janice Barlow, Robert Rommel, Andy Kaufmann, Michael Rienti, Gillian AvRuskin and Jawaid Rasul
Additional contact information
Geoffrey M. Jacquez: BioMedware, Inc., 3526 West Liberty, Suite 100, Ann Arbor, MI 48103, USA
Janice Barlow: Zero Breast Cancer, 4340 Redwood Highway, Suite C400, San Rafael, CA 94903, USA
Robert Rommel: BioMedware, Inc., 3526 West Liberty, Suite 100, Ann Arbor, MI 48103, USA
Andy Kaufmann: BioMedware, Inc., 3526 West Liberty, Suite 100, Ann Arbor, MI 48103, USA
Michael Rienti: BioMedware, Inc., 3526 West Liberty, Suite 100, Ann Arbor, MI 48103, USA
Gillian AvRuskin: BioMedware, Inc., 3526 West Liberty, Suite 100, Ann Arbor, MI 48103, USA
Jawaid Rasul: BioMedware, Inc., 3526 West Liberty, Suite 100, Ann Arbor, MI 48103, USA

IJERPH, 2013, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-25

Abstract: Marin County (California, USA) has among the highest incidences of breast cancer in the U.S. A previously conducted case-control study found eight significant risk factors in participants enrolled from 1997–1999. These included being premenopausal, never using birth control pills, lower highest lifetime body mass index, having four or more mammograms from 1990–1994, beginning drinking alcohol after age 21, drinking an average two or more alcoholic drinks per day, being in the highest quartile of pack-years of cigarette smoking, and being raised in an organized religion. Previously conducted surveys provided residential histories; while statistic accounted for participants’ residential mobility, and assessed clustering of breast cancer cases relative to controls based on the known risk factors. These identified specific cases, places, and times of excess breast cancer risk. Analysis found significant global clustering of cases localized to specific residential histories and times. Much of the observed clustering occurred among participants who immigrated to Marin County. However, persistent case-clustering of greater than fifteen years duration was also detected. Significant case-clustering among long-term residents may indicate geographically localized risk factors not accounted for in the study design, as well as uncertainty and incompleteness in the acquired addresses. Other plausible explanations include environmental risk factors and cases tending to settle in specific areas. A biologically plausible exposure or risk factor has yet to be identified.

Keywords: human mobility; space-time analysis; breast cancer; disease etiology (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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