Cancer incidence among waitresses in Norway

Abstract

Previous studies have found high risk of cancers of the upper aerogastric tract, liver, and lung among waiters. Since approximately 75 percent of those working in the restaurant business in Norway are women, we have analyzed cancer incidence in a cohort of waitresses, to determine whether they have the same high cancer-risk as their male colleagues. The cohort consisted of 5,314 waitresses organized in the Restaurant Workers' Union between 1932 and 1978. The follow-up period was from 1959 to 1991. The standardized incidence ratio (SIR) for all causes of cancer was 1.0 (95 percent confidence interval [CI]=0.9–1.1), based on 430 observed cases. Cancers of the tongue, mouth, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, and liver were grouped together as alcohol-associated cancers. SIR for these cancers combined was 1.1 (CI=0.5–2.2). For lung cancer, SIR was 2.3 (CI=1.6–3.1). Cervical cancer was also more frequent than expected, and breast cancer less frequent than expected. The larger excess of lung cancer and cervical cancer appeared in the sub-cohort working in restaurants with a license to serve alcohol. No excess risk of alcohol-associated cancers could be detected in this cohort of Norwegian waitresses. A longer follow-up period will be necessary to evaluate possible consequences of an increased alcohol consumption among younger waitresses. Waitresses in Norway are, like their male colleagues, at high risk for lung cancer.Cancer Causes and Control 1994, 5, 31–37.