Objective To investigate the association between pulse pressure and the risk of oral cancer in an occupational cohort.
Methods A total of 99 845 participants from an occupational health screening cohort in Kailuan, China in 2006, who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria were selected. All the participants were divided into four groups according to the quartiles of pulse pressure. A Cox proportional-hazards regression model was performed to calculate the hazard ratio (HR) of oral cancer and its 95% confidence interval (95%CI). The risk of oral cancer was assessed by each increment of standard deviation (s) in pulse pressure. In addition, the effect of hypertension on oral cancer was analyzed.
Results After a mean follow-up of 15.01 years, there were 116 new cases of oral cancer in the study cohort. The Cox proportional-hazards regression analysis showed that after adjusting for confounder factors, the HR and 95% CI for the occurrence of oral cancer in the second, third, and fourth quartile groups were 1.88 (1.02, 3.46), 1.94 (1.04, 3.61), and 2.31 (1.22, 4.37), respectively, compared with the first quartile group. The risk of oral cancer increased by 22% for every one s increase in pulse pressure (P < 0.05). Compared with the normal blood pressure group, the HR values for the risk of oral cancer in the grade -1, -2, and -3 hypertension groups were 1.72 (95% CI: 1.10, 2.67), 1.73 (95% CI: 0.99, 3.01), and 2.75 (95% CI: 1.37, 5.52), oral cancer risk increases with the hypertension level (P for trend < 0.01).
Conclusion A higher pulse pressure is associated with a higher risk of oral cancer in the Kailuan occupational cohort. Hypertension is a risk factor for oral cancer, and a higher grade of hypertension is linked to a higher risk of oral cancer.
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