Cancer incidence among Danish Seventh-day Adventists

Lau Caspar Thygesen¹, Andreas Hoff², Lone Nylandsted³, Niels Hvidt¹, Christoffer Johansen^2
1University of Southern Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark
²Danish Cancer Society, Copenhagen, Denmark
³Bispebjerg University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark
Denmark is one of the most secular nations in which religion plays only a minor role in public life. We found it of interest to investigate the relation between religious belief and cancer risk in this context. By their religious belief members of the Seventh Day Adventists do not consume tobacco, alcohol and many live by a vegetarian lifestyle. In this study, we report the cancer incidence among all members of the SDA church since 1920.
Method
We obtained information on all members of the Danish SDA since 1920 and linked these records with the Danish Central Civil Registration System to identify the personal identification number (PIN) of all SDA members Adventists. We identified the PIN of 6418/7475 (86%) members and by the use of this PIN, we identified all registered cancer cases since 1943 through the Danish Cancer Registry. Comparisons of cancer incidence among Adventists with the general Danish population standardized according to age and period were computed for all major cancer sites.
Results
The standardized cancer incidence among Danish Adventists com- pared to the Danish general population will be presented at the conference.
Conclusions
The conclusion will be presented at the conference.
Research Implications
If we observe lower cancer incidence rates among Adventists we will discuss whether this reflects positive influence of lifestyle among Adventists compared to the Danish population or whether there may be religious factors that can be dissociated from lifestyle.
Clinical Implications
The clinical implication is directed towards our understanding of the link between religious beliefs and lifestyle and the implications of this link for health. One may add that members of SDA for decades have followed the major public health recommendations. Our results reflect this compliance in a more societal view.
Acknowledgement of Funding
Religion in the 21. Century, University of Copenhagen, Denmark and the Danish Cancer Society supported this study.