Back to Archived Journals » Open Access Medical Statistics » Volume 2

Body mass index and the risk of prostate cancer

Authors McGee D, Crespo

Received 5 June 2012

Accepted for publication 10 August 2012

Published 27 September 2012 Volume 2012:2 Pages 53—60

DOI https://doi.org/10.2147/OAMS.S34645

Checked for plagiarism Yes

Review by Single anonymous peer review

Peer reviewer comments 4



Daniel Lee McGee,1 Carlos J Crespo2

1Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, 2School of Community Health, Portland State University, Portland, OR, USA

Background: This article presents cohort studies that use data from the National Health Information Survey from 1986 to 1994 and compares the effectiveness of Cox proportional hazards models that assume a linear relationship between body mass index (BMI) and the risk of prostate cancer with models that assume a J-shaped relationship.
Methods and results: Our study found that for black males over 40 years of age, neither a linear nor a J-shaped relationship yielded a statistically significant model. With white males over 40 years, assuming a linear relationship did not yield a statistically significant model (P = 0.582). When we assume a J-shaped relationship, the optimal change point where the risk of prostate cancer death is minimized occurs when the BMI is 25.5. Among white males over 40 years with BMI < 25.5, an inverse relationship was found (P = 0.009). Among white males over 40 years with BMI > 25.5, a direct relationship was found (P = 0.017).
Conclusion: With this data set, we found that for white males over 40 years, Cox proportional hazards models that assume a J-shaped relationship between BMI and prostate cancer death provide a much better fit than models assuming a linear relationship.

Keywords: body mass index, prostate cancer, J-shaped curve, Cox proportional hazards model, Kaplan-Meier model, National Health Information Survey

Creative Commons License © 2012 The Author(s). This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited. The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution - Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License. By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms.