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Medical risk factors and the development of brain tumors
Author(s) -
Schlehofer Brigitte,
Blettner Maria,
Becker Nikolaus,
Martinsohn Christine,
Wahrendorf Jiirgen
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0142(19920515)69:10<2541::aid-cncr2820691025>3.0.co;2-h
Subject(s) - medicine , relative risk , confidence interval , pediatrics , family history , population , epilepsy , environmental health , psychiatry
Several diseases and medical treatments are discussed as risk factors for the development of brain tumors. A population‐based case‐control study in the Rhein‐Neckar‐Odenwald area (containing 1.3 million inhabitants) of Germany was established to investigate this question. A total of 226 patients (cases) with primary brain tumors (International Classification of Diseases, ninth edition, classes 191, 191.1, and 192.0) and 418 control subjects (controls) were interviewed using a standardized questionnaire over a period of 2 years. No association was seen for head injuries, hereditary diseases, family history, and radiographic examination of the head and teeth. However, more cases than controls had had meningitis (relative risk [RR], 2.7; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.9 to 8.6) or epilepsy (RR, 2.6; 95% CI, 0.6 to 11.7). The RR was decreased for those who had allergic diseases (RR, 0.7; 95% CI, 0.5 to 1.0), diabetes (RR, 0.7; 95% CI, 0.3 to 1.8), and infections and colds (RR, 0.3; 95% CI, 0.1 to 0.8).