Purpose: The evidence on effects of TV viewing time among premenopausal and postmenopausal women for breast cancer risk remains controversial and limited.
Materials and methods: A prospective study encompassing 33,276 (17,568 premenopausal, and 15,708 postmenopausal) women aged 40-79 years in whom TV viewing time, menstrual, and reproductive histories were determined by a self-administered questionnaire. The follow-up was from 1988 to 2009 and hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of breast cancer incidence were calculated for longer TV viewing time in reference to shorter TV viewing time by Cox proportional hazard models.
Results: During 16.8-year median follow-up, we found positive associations between TV viewing time and breast cancer incidence with a borderline significant trend among total women and a significant trend among postmenopausal women. Among total women, the multivariable HRs (95% CIs) for risk of breast cancer in reference to < 1.5 hr/day of TV viewing time were 0.89 (0.59-1.34) for 1.5 to < 3.0 hr/day, 1.19 (0.82-1.74) for 3.0 to < 4.5 hr/day, and 1.45 (0.91-2.32) for ≥ 4.5 hr/day (p for trend=0.053) and among postmenopausal women, the corresponding risk estimates were 1.10 (0.42-2.88), 2.54 (1.11-5.80), and 2.37 (0.92-6.10) (p for trend=0.009), respectively.
Conclusion: Prolonged TV viewing time was associated with increased risk of breast cancer, especially among postmenopausal women.
Keywords: Body mass index; Breast neoplasms; Cohort study; Incidence; Japan; Postmenopausal; Television viewing time.