Conducting Molecular Epidemiological Research in the Age of HIPAA: A Multi-Institutional Case-Control Study of Breast Cancer in African-American and European-American Women
Table 3
Characteristics of 1119 breast cancer cases.
African American
European American
(559)
%
(560)
%
Age at interview
35
28
5.0
17
3.0
35–39
33
5.9
32
5.7
40–49
179
32.0
179
32.0
50–59
207
37.0
198
35.4
60–64
79
14.1
89
15.9
65
33
5.9
44
7.9
Country of origin1
United States and Canada
338
60.5
472
84.3
Caribbean countries
130
23.2
8
1.4
Other
91
16.3
80
14.3
Marital status1
Married
195
35.1
354
63.5
Living as married
13
2.3
17
3.1
Widowed
37
6.7
23
4.1
Separated
49
8.8
10
1.8
Divorced
93
16.7
61
11.0
Single, never married or never lived as married
169
30.4
92
16.5
Highest grade of school completed1
Less than 11th grade
94
16.8
13
2.3
High school graduate or equivalent
155
27.7
81
14.5
Some college
160
28.6
120
21.5
College graduate
98
17.5
180
32.2
Post-graduate degree
52
9.3
165
29.5
Health insurance (multiple choices possible)
Medicaid1
87
15.6
13
2.3
Medicare
39
7.0
31
5.6
Employer-provided insurance1
328
58.7
455
81.4
Pay for insurance out of pocket1
18
3.2
42
7.5
I do not have health insurance1
95
17.0
22
3.9
Other
19
3.4
20
3.6
Annual income1
Less than $15 000
103
20.9
25
4.9
$15 000–19 999
66
13.4
11
2.2
$20 000–24 999
37
7.5
12
2.4
$25 000–34 999
54
10.9
14
2.8
$35 000–49 999
66
13.4
50
9.9
$50 000–69 999
67
13.6
54
10.7
$70 000–89 999
39
7.9
68
13.4
$90 000 or more
62
12.6
273
53.9
BMI1
Underweight
6
1.2
9
1.8
Normal
78
15.5
239
46.4
Overweight
156
30.9
132
25.6
Obese
265
52.5
135
26.2
Age at menarche1
11
72
12.9
48
8.7
11-12
87
15.6
83
15.0
12-13
120
21.5
160
28.9
13-14
132
23.7
146
26.3
14
147
26.3
117
21.1
Number of pregnancies1
No pregnancies
43
8.4
117
23.9
1 pregnancy
112
21.8
101
20.7
2 pregnancies
161
31.4
166
33.9
3 pregnancies
94
18.3
68
13.9
4 pregnancies
51
9.9
24
4.9
5 pregnancies
52
10.1
13
2.7
Age at first pregnancy1
≤19
172
37.1
27
7.3
20–24
140
30.2
93
25.0
25–29
88
19.0
110
29.6
30
64
13.8
142
38.2
Age at menopause1
Premenopausal
200
43.4
207
40.8
Perimenopausal
115
24.9
97
19.1
44
28
6.1
20
3.9
45–49
46
10.0
54
10.6
50
72
15.6
130
25.6
Ever have hormone replacement therapy? 1
Yes
82
14.8
152
27.2
No
473
85.2
406
72.8
Ever have a screening mammogram? 1
Yes
435
78.0
492
88.2
No
123
22.0
66
11.8
How was your breast cancer found? 1
Routine self-exam
144
26.0
63
11.4
Accidental self discovery
128
23.2
106
19.1
Accidental discovery by a partner
6
1.1
4
0.7
Routine physical exam by a doctor
37
6.7
42
7.6
Routine mammogram
198
35.8
283
51.0
Some other way
40
7.2
57
10.3
ER status1
Positive
231
65.6
203
77.8
Negative
121
34.4
58
22.2
PR status1
Positive
181
51.7
172
66.4
Negative
169
48.3
87
33.6
HER2
Positive
83
27.7
41
20.8
Negative
217
72.3
156
79.2
Grade1
Well-differentiated
35
8.6
68
20.9
Moderately differentiated
162
39.8
153
47.1
Poorly differentiated
210
51.6
104
32.0
1P < .05, Chi-square or Fisher’s exact test, as appropriate, for differences between AAs and EAs.
