OBJECTIVE:This study was undertaken to identify and quantify risk factors for endometrial cancer among young women. STUDY DESIGN: This case-control study included all Danish women <50 years old who had endometrial cancer diagnosed during the period 1987 to 1994. A total of 237 case patients and 538 population control subjects matched with the case patients for age and residence were included in the analysis. RESULTS: Women with a family history of endometrial cancer had an odds ratio for endometrial cancer of 2.1 (95% confidence interval, 1.1-3.8)). Completion of 1 term pregnancy implied an odds ratio of 0.6 (95% confidence interval, 0.3-1.1). The risk of endometrial cancer decreased significantly with increasing age at first birth and with the number of induced abortions. Use of oral contraceptives for 1 to 5 years decreased the risk of endometrial cancer (odds ratio, 0.2; 95% confidence interval, 0.1-0.3). The odds ratio for endometrial cancer among women who received hormone replacement therapy for 1 to 5 years was 3.1 (95% confidence interval, 1.4-7.0). Body mass index was not demonstrated to be an independent risk factor in this study. The protective impacts of the different exposures (risk factors) can be expressed as etiologic fractions, which indicate how much each exposure reduces the occurrence of endometrial cancer compared with a situation without the existence of that particular exposure. These fractions were as follows: oral contraceptive use for ≥1 year, -45%; 2 term pregnancies, -88%; age ≥30 y when giving birth for the first time, -38%; and a history of incomplete pregnancy, -16%. Key words: Case-control study, endometrial cancer, etiologic fraction, premenopausal, risk factor Endometrial cancer is a rare disease among premenopausal women. Seven percent of endometrial cancer occurs in women <50 years old. In the same age group about 300 curettage procedures and an equal number of endometrial biopsies are performed for every single diagnosis of endometrial cancer. When the physical complications attendant with these invasive procedures and the socioeconomic consequences of curettage as a screening procedure are considered, the question arises as to whether it is appropriate to carry out this number of intrauterine procedures in fertile women to find so few cases of endometrial malignancy.If young women at an increased risk for development of endometrial cancer could be identified, a selection of women among whom the need to undergo curettage was greater might be realized. Consequently, the number of curettage procedures performed in this age group could be reduced.Several studies have identified risk factors of endometrial cancer among older women, such as overweight status, estrogen replacement therapy, nulliparity, infertility, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension. 1-8 However, these risk factors are not necessarily relevant for endometrial cancer among young women. Only a few studies have focused on risk factors for endometrial cancer among premenopausal women (Table I). To identify and quantif...

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Summary. Birthweight‐for‐gestational age charts were based on the analysis of 3888 consecutive births in which the gestational age was estimated by measuring the fetal biparietal diameter before the 20th week of gestation. The data showed, in contrast to previous studies, a linear relation between gestational age and birthweight without inflection after term. The regression parameters showed a strongly significant difference between girls and boys. Thus, boys were 1·5% heavier than girls at 190 days gestation and 3·6% heavier at 300 days gestation. The linearity in the birthweight‐for‐gestational age charts could be due to the more reliable gestational age based on early ultrasound.