Cervical cancer in relation to tobacco and alcohol consumption in Lesotho, southern Africa

Abstract

The patterns of tobacco and alcohol consumption were determined for 257 pairs of cervical cancer patients and controls in Lesotho, matched in terms of age, number of children, and home area. Four binary variables in 16 combinations were analysed: the use of tobacco in the form of cigarettes, pipe, or snuff, the use of indigenous alcohols, European drink, and sour porridges made from fermented sorghum or maize. A matched pairs analysis to evaluate crude relative risk according to Pike [7] and a logistic model fitted by maximum likelihood according to the method described by Cox [8] supported the conclusion that there was an elevated risk of cancer in the cervix among Lesotho women who consumed indigenous alcohols. In a previous report of cancer statistics of Lesotho [2] the authors employed a X2 analysis separately on each factor. The integrated method adopted in the present communication permits a much higher degree of difference between patients and controls and ascribes a much higher degree of significance to indigenous alcohol than to tobacco.