Characteristics of participants by sex and case–control status
| Men | Women | Overall | ||||||||||
| Cases | Controls | Cases | Controls | Cases | Controls | |||||||
| N | % | n | % | N | % | n | % | n | % | N | % | |
| Total | 5185 | 39.5 | 6063 | 46.1 | 633 | 4.8 | 1263 | 9.6 | 5818 | 44.3 | 7326 | 55.7 |
| Study | ||||||||||||
| France multicentre (1989–1991) | 485 | 9.4 | 277 | 4.6 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 485 | 8.3 | 277 | 3.8 |
| France multicentre (2001–2007) | 1781 | 34.3 | 2695 | 44.4 | 202 | 31.9 | 634 | 50.2 | 1983 | 34.1 | 3329 | 45.4 |
| Germany-Heidelberg | 208 | 4.0 | 694 | 11.4 | 14 | 2.2 | 49 | 3.9 | 222 | 3.8 | 743 | 10.1 |
| Latin America | 1420 | 27.4 | 1021 | 16.8 | 163 | 25.8 | 173 | 13.7 | 1583 | 27.2 | 1194 | 16.3 |
| Western Europe | 1291 | 24.9 | 1376 | 22.7 | 254 | 40.1 | 407 | 32.2 | 1545 | 26.6 | 1783 | 24.3 |
| Age (years) | ||||||||||||
| Median (IQR) | 58 (52–65) | 59 (52–67) | 59 (52–66) | 61 (51–69) | 58 (52–65) | 60 (52–67) | ||||||
| Smoking status (cigarettes) | ||||||||||||
| Never smokers | 215 | 4.1 | 1748 | 28.8 | 148 | 23.4 | 751 | 59.5 | 363 | 6.2 | 2499 | 34.1 |
| Former smokers | 1658 | 32.0 | 2807 | 46.3 | 106 | 16.7 | 267 | 21.1 | 1764 | 30.3 | 3074 | 42.0 |
| Current smokers | 3312 | 63.9 | 1508 | 24.9 | 379 | 59.9 | 245 | 19.4 | 3691 | 63.4 | 1753 | 23.9 |
| Cigarettes smoked per day | ||||||||||||
| Median (IQR) | 20 (15–29) | 10 (0–20) | 12 (1–20) | 0 (0–10) | 20 (13–28) | 9 (0–19) | ||||||
| Years of cigarette smoking | ||||||||||||
| Median (IQR) | 37 (30–44) | 19 (0–34) | 32 (5–40) | 0 (0–21) | 37 (29–44) | 16 (0–32) | ||||||
| Cigarette pack-years | ||||||||||||
| Median (IQR) | 37 (24–54) | 11 (0–29) | 19 (1–36) | 0 (0–10) | 36 (21–53) | 8 (0–26) | ||||||
| Drinking status | ||||||||||||
| Never | 192 | 3.7 | 455 | 7.5 | 132 | 20.9 | 369 | 29.2 | 324 | 5.6 | 824 | 11.2 |
| Ever | 4993 | 96.3 | 5608 | 92.5 | 501 | 79.1 | 894 | 70.8 | 5494 | 94.4 | 6502 | 88.8 |
| Number of drinks (15.6 mL of ethanol) per day | ||||||||||||
| Never drinkers | 192 | 3.7 | 455 | 7.5 | 132 | 20.9 | 369 | 29.2 | 324 | 5.6 | 824 | 11.2 |
| 0< drinks/day <1 | 723 | 13.9 | 2140 | 35.3 | 284 | 44.9 | 694 | 54.9 | 1007 | 17.3 | 2834 | 38.7 |
| 1≤ drinks/day <3 | 1240 | 23.9 | 1973 | 32.5 | 130 | 20.5 | 168 | 13.3 | 1370 | 23.5 | 2141 | 29.2 |
| 3≤ drinks/day <5 | 968 | 18.7 | 773 | 12.7 | 38 | 6.0 | 18 | 1.4 | 1006 | 17.3 | 791 | 10.8 |
| ≥5 drinks/day | 2062 | 39.8 | 722 | 11.9 | 49 | 7.7 | 14 | 1.1 | 2111 | 36.3 | 736 | 10.0 |
| Cancer subtypes | ||||||||||||
| Oral cavity | 929 | 17.9 | 210 | 33.2 | 1139 | 19.6 | ||||||
| Oropharynx | 1089 | 21.0 | 192 | 30.3 | 1281 | 22.0 | ||||||
| Hypopharynx | 795 | 15.3 | 32 | 5.1 | 827 | 14.2 | ||||||
| Oral/pharynx NOS | 342 | 6.6 | 59 | 9.3 | 401 | 6.9 | ||||||
| Larynx | 1968 | 38.0 | 135 | 21.3 | 2103 | 36.1 | ||||||
| Overlapping head and neck | 52 | 1.0 | 4 | 0.6 | 56 | 1.0 | ||||||
| Missing | 10 | 0.2 | 1 | 0.2 | 11 | 0.2 | ||||||
| Control type | ||||||||||||
| Hospital based | 2409 | 39.7 | 478 | 37.8 | 2887 | 39.4 | ||||||
| Population based | 3654 | 60.3 | 785 | 62.2 | 4439 | 60.6 | ||||||
| Study region | ||||||||||||
| Europe | 3765 | 72.6 | 5042 | 83.2 | 470 | 74.2 | 1090 | 86.3 | 4235 | 72.8 | 6132 | 83.7 |
| Latin America | 1420 | 27.4 | 1021 | 16.8 | 163 | 25.8 | 173 | 13.7 | 1583 | 27.2 | 1194 | 16.3 |
| SIOPS* | ||||||||||||
| 1st quartile (m: 51–78/w: 49–78/overall: 49–78) | 489 | 9.4 | 1520 | 25.1 | 109 | 17.2 | 307 | 24.3 | 636 | 10.9 | 1900 | 25.9 |
| 2nd quartile (m: 41–50/w: 40–48/overall: 40–48) | 971 | 18.7 | 1408 | 23.2 | 152 | 24.0 | 346 | 27.4 | 1318 | 22.7 | 1957 | 26.7 |
| 3rd quartile (m: 32–40/w: 26–39/overall: 31–39) | 1534 | 29.6 | 1384 | 22.8 | 158 | 25.0 | 303 | 24.0 | 2082 | 35.8 | 1841 | 25.1 |
| 4th quartile (m: 14–31/w: 14–25/overall: 14–30) | 2191 | 42.3 | 1751 | 28.9 | 214 | 33.8 | 307 | 24.3 | 1782 | 30.6 | 1628 | 22.2 |
| ISEI* | ||||||||||||
| 1st quartile (m: 55–90/w: 56–90/overall: 56–90) | 583 | 11.2 | 1569 | 25.9 | 100 | 15.8 | 313 | 24.8 | 659 | 11.3 | 1801 | 24.6 |
| 2nd quartile (m: 39–54/w: 45–55/overall: 40–55) | 1086 | 20.9 | 1550 | 25.6 | 138 | 21.8 | 310 | 24.5 | 1177 | 20.2 | 1872 | 25.6 |
| 3rd quartile (m: 32–38/w: 28–44/overall: 32–39) | 1900 | 36.6 | 1585 | 26.1 | 188 | 29.7 | 308 | 24.4 | 2096 | 36.0 | 1875 | 25.6 |
| 4th quartile (m:10–31/w:10–27/overall: 10–31) | 1616 | 31.2 | 1359 | 22.4 | 207 | 32.7 | 332 | 26.3 | 1886 | 32.4 | 1778 | 24.3 |
| Longest job was manual | ||||||||||||
| Yes | 3993 | 77.0 | 3503 | 57.8 | 398 | 62.9 | 642 | 50.8 | 4391 | 75.5 | 4145 | 56.6 |
| No | 1192 | 23.0 | 2560 | 42.2 | 235 | 37.1 | 621 | 49.2 | 1427 | 24.5 | 3181 | 43.4 |
| Worked ≥10 years in risk occupations | ||||||||||||
| Yes | 1947 | 37.6 | 1418 | 23.4 | 138 | 21.8 | 213 | 16.9 | 2085 | 35.8 | 1631 | 22.3 |
| No | 3238 | 62.4 | 4645 | 76.6 | 495 | 78.2 | 1050 | 83.1 | 3733 | 64.2 | 5695 | 77.7 |
| Ever experienced unemployment† | ||||||||||||
| Yes | 402 | 12.3 | 345 | 7.2 | 42 | 8.9 | 83 | 7.6 | 444 | 11.8 | 428 | 7.3 |
| No | 2878 | 87.7 | 4420 | 92.8 | 428 | 91.1 | 1007 | 92.4 | 3306 | 88.2 | 5427 | 92.7 |
*Status/prestige score for longest job, categories by sex specific and overall quartiles of control group.
†No data available for Latin America and France (1989–1991).
ISEI, International Socio-Economic Index; NOS, not otherwise specified; SIOPS, Standard International Occupational Prestige Scale.