Author(s)

Samir Yassin¹, Malak Younis¹, Samer Abuzerr^2,3*, Maher Darwish⁴, Ayman Abu Mustafa⁵

¹Department of Physics, Faculty of Sciences, Islamic University of Gaza, Gaza, Palestine.
²Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Faculty of Public Health, International Campus, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
³Unit of Quality Improvement and Infection Control, Ministry of Health, Gaza, Palestine.
⁴Department of Pharmacy, Al-Safwa University College, Karbala, Iraq.
⁵Department of Research, Directorate General of Human Resources Development, Ministry of Health, Gaza, Palestine.

Background: Worldwide, breast cancer (BC) is the most frequently diagnosed neoplastic disease in women around menopause that is the leading cause of DALYs, because it causes a significant reduction of these women’s ability to function normally in everyday life. Methods: The present hospital-based case-control study was carried out between January and August 2018 using a structured questionnaire on 105 breast cancer women and 210 controls who are clinically free from breast cancer. Data about the study cases were collected in the oncology day-care clinics of the two main hospitals in Gaza strip “Al-Shifa and European Gaza hospitals”. Univariate logistic regression and multivariate logistic regression analyses were employed to identify the significant factors associated with BC. Results: Multivariate logistic regression analyses with adjustment for all confounders revealed that woman with BMI more than or equal 30 kg/m² are under risk of getting BC 2.9 times greater than those having BMI less than 29 kg/m² (AOR = 2.895; 95% CI: 1.305 - 6.423). Analysis of risk according to reaching menopause showed that the estimated AOR was greater among those reached menopause (3.137, 95% CI 1.824 - 5.395) than among those that did not reach menopause. The risk of developing BC in the case of a history of incidence of BC in the family was more than two times higher (AOR = 2.632, 95% CI 1.528 - 4.535) than in case of the history of a free family of BC. Conclusion: In this context, the above-mentioned risk factors must be taken into consideration in BC management processes in the Gaza strip.

Breast Cancer, Case-Control, Risk Factors, Women, Gaza Strip

Yassin, S. , Younis, M. , Abuzerr, S. , Darwish, M. and Mustafa, A. (2019) Extrinsic Risk Factors for Women Breast Cancer in Gaza Strip, Palestine: Associations and Interactions in a Case-Control Study. Advances in Breast Cancer Research, 8, 11-30. doi: 10.4236/abcr.2019.81002.