Involuntary smoking and lung cancer: a case-control study

Abstract

In a case-control study in 4 hospitals from 1971 to 1981, 134 cases of lung cancer and 402 cases of colon-rectum cancer (the controls) were identified in nonsmoking women. All cases and controls were confirmed by histologic review of slides, and nonsmoking status and exposures were verified by interview. Odds ratios (OR) increased with increasing number of cigarettes smoked by the husband, particularly for cigarettes smoked at home. The OR for women whose husbands smoked 20 or more cigarettes at home was 2.11 (95% confidence limits: 1.13, 3.95). A logistic regression analysis showed a significant positive trend of increasing risk with increased exposure to the husband's smoking at home, controlled for age, hospital, socioeconomic class, and year of diagnosis. Comparison of women classified by number of hours exposed a day to smoke in the last 5 years and in the last 25 years showed no increase in risk of lung cancer.