Document Type
Article
Original Publication Date
2013
Journal/Book/Conference Title
PLOS ONE
Volume
8
DOI of Original Publication
10.1371/journal.pone.0065524
Date of Submission
November 2014
Abstract
Objective
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are linked to multiple adverse health outcomes. This study examined the association between ACEs and cancer diagnosis.
Methods
Data from the 2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey were used. The BRFSS is the largest ongoing telephone health survey, conducted in all US states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and provides data on a variety of health issues among the non-institutionalized adult population. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to derive components for ACEs. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to provide adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the association between ACE components and overall, childhood and adulthood cancer, adjusting for confounders such as age, gender, race/ethnicity, income, educational status, marital status, and insurance status.
Results
Approximately 62% of respondents reported being exposed to ACEs and about one in ten respondents reported ever having been diagnosed with cancer. Component 1, which had the sexual abuse variables with the highest weights, was significantly associated with adulthood cancer (adjusted OR: 1.21; 95% CI: 1.03–1.43).
Conclusion
The association between ACEs and adulthood cancer may be attributable to disease progression through association of ACEs with risk factors for other chronic diseases. More research should focus on the impact of sexual abuse ACEs and adverse health outcomes.
Rights
© 2013 Brown et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Is Part Of
VCU Family Medicine and Population Health Publications
Comments
Originally published at http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0065524