Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Revisão Acesso aberto Produção Nacional Revisado por pares

BIBTEX RIS

Association between stress and breast cancer in women: a meta-analysis

2009; Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz; Volume: 25; Issue: suppl 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1590/s0102-311x2009001500010

1678-4464

Míria Conceição Lavinas Santos, Bernardo Lessa Horta, João Joaquim Freitas do Amaral, Paula Frassinetti Castelo Branco Camurça Fernandes, Cristina María Galvão, Ana Fátima Carvalho Fernandes,

Childhood Cancer Survivors' Quality of Life

The objective of the current meta-analysis was to verify the association between stressful life events and primary breast cancer incidence in women. A total of 618 studies from 1982-2007 were found in the PubMed, LILACS, and Cochrane Library databases. Methodological quality was evaluated according to the Downs & Black criteria. Eight studies were selected (six case-controls and two cohorts). The studies were grouped in three analyses, two of which based on the categories widowhood and divorce and the other based on self-rated intensity and frequency of stressful events. Relative risks were: widowhood 1.04 (95%CI: 0.75-1.44; p = 0.800); divorce 1.03 (95%: 0.72-1.48; p = 0.850); and intensity/frequency of stress 1.73 (95%CI: 0.98-3.05; p = 0.059). We conclude that stressful life events as a whole are not associated with risk of breast cancer in women. However, it is not possible to rule out high-intensity stress as a risk factor for breast cancer.