Underlying pathways of social inequality in tooth loss: the mediating role of sugary beverages and diabetes.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies show social inequality in tooth loss, but the underlying pathways are not well understood. The aim was to investigate the mediated proportion of sugary beverages (SBs) and diabetes and the association between educational level and tooth loss, and to investigate whether the indirect effect of SBs and diabetes varied between educational groups in relation to tooth loss. METHODS: Data from 47,109 Danish men and women aged 50 years or older included in the Danish Diet, Cancer and Health Study was combined with data from Danish registers. Using natural effect models, SBs and diabetes were considered as mediators, and tooth loss was defined as having <15 teeth present. RESULTS: In total, 10,648 participants had tooth loss. The analyses showed that 3% (95% confidence interval 2-4%) of the social inequality in tooth loss was mediated through SBs and diabetes. The mediated proportion was mainly due to differential exposure to SBs and diabetes among lower educational groups. CONCLUSIONS: The findings show that SBs and diabetes to a minor degree contribute to tooth-loss inequalities. The explanation indicates that individuals in lower educational groups have higher consumption of SBs and more often suffer from diabetes than higher educational groups.

Roles of allostatic load, lifestyle and clinical risk factors in mediating the association between education and coronary heart disease risk in Europe.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown that differential exposure to lifestyle factors may mediate the association between education and coronary heart diseases (CHD). However, few studies have examined the potential roles of allostatic load (AL) or differential susceptibility. METHODS: 25 310 men and 26 018 women aged 35-74 and CHD free at baseline were identified from 21 European cohorts and followed for a median of 10 years, to investigate the mediating role of AL, as well as of smoking, alcohol use and body mass index (BMI), on educational differences in CHD incidence, applying marginal structural models and three-way decomposition. RESULTS: AL is a mediator of the association between educational status and CHD incidence, with the highest proportion mediated observed among women and largely attributable to differential exposure, (28% (95% CI 19% to 44%)), with 8% (95% CI 0% to 16%) attributable to differential susceptibility. The mediating effects of smoking, alcohol and BMI, compared with AL, were relatively small for both men and women. CONCLUSION: Overall, the educational inequalities in CHD incidence were partially mediated through differential exposure to AL. By contrast, the mediation of the educational gradient in CHD by investigated lifestyle risk factors was limited. As differential susceptibility in men was found to have a predominant role in the accumulation of AL in low educational classes, the investigation of AL-related risk factors is warranted.

Social inequality in tooth loss, the mediating role of smoking and alcohol consumption.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of the study was to investigate the mediated proportion of smoking and alcohol consumption in the association between education and tooth loss. Further, the objective was, on the additive scale, to decompose the total effect of education on tooth loss into the direct effect of education, the natural indirect effect through smoking and alcohol consumption (differential exposure) and the mediated interaction between education, smoking and alcohol consumption on tooth loss (differential susceptibility). METHODS: The study was based on data from the Social Inequality in Cancer Cohort (SIC); a cohort constructed by seven pooled cohorts. The total study population comprised of 34 975 participants. With the use of natural effects models, we regarded smoking and alcohol consumption as intermediates; we investigated the role of smoking and alcohol consumption in mediating the effect of education on tooth loss. RESULTS: In total, 4924 participants had tooth loss defined as <15 teeth present. The results of the analyses, on the additive scale, showed 1202 (95% CI: 623-1781) additional persons with tooth loss per 10 000 persons among low compared to highly educated men. Among women, the analyses showed 1159 (95% CI: 959-1359) additional persons with tooth loss per 10 000 persons. The results, on the relative scale, showed that 11% (95% CI: 8%-15%) of the social inequality in tooth loss was jointly mediated by smoking and alcohol consumption among low-educated men. Among women with low education, the mediated proportion was 26% (95% CI: 19%-36%). CONCLUSION: Social inequality in tooth loss seems partly explained by differential exposure and differential susceptibility to smoking and alcohol consumption.

Resource allocation for equity in Brazilian health care: a methodological model / Alocação de recursos para equidade na atenção à saúde no Brasil: um modelo metodológico

ABSTRACT It is a fundamental requirement of governments that they allocate resources to public services among institutions or populations that are potential competitors for funding. In Brazil, a country with clear social inequalities, equitable allocation of resources in the Unified Health System (SUS) poses a particular challenge. The present study proposes an individual-level matrix model for allocating health resources in the SUS based on data from the National Health Survey (PNS) 2013. This model is founded on a matrix of the following variables: age, sex, education, employment and income and the relationships between them. A morbidity score is used to estimate weights for each category. This model provides an opportunity for managers to use objective methods to provide a clear guide for decision-making in accordance with principles laid down in Brazilian law and in a manner based on health needs and epidemiological and demographic factors, in addition to the capacity to offer services.

RESUMO É um requisito fundamental dos governos alocar recursos para serviços públicos entre instituições ou populações que são concorrentes potenciais para financiamento. No Brasil, país com desigualdades sociais claras, alocar recursos no Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) se torna particularmente desafiador e equitativo. O estudo tem por objetivo apresentar um modelo matricial de nível individual para alocação de recursos em saúde no SUS com base em dados da Pesquisa Nacional de Saúde (PNS) 2013. Este modelo é baseado na matriz de variáveis idade, sexo, educação, emprego e renda e seus relacionamentos. Um escore de morbidade é usado para estimar pesos para cada categoria. Este modelo oferece uma oportunidade para que os gestores utilizem métodos objetivos que auxiliem a tomada de decisão de forma clara e baseada nas leis brasileiras, considerando as necessidades de saúde, aspectos epidemiológicos, demográficos, bem como a capacidade de oferecer serviços.

Job mobility and health in the Danish workforce.

AIMS: The globalized economy has stimulated mobility in the labour market in many countries and Denmark has one of the highest rates of mobility between workplaces among the OECD countries. This raises the question of the potential health effects of mobility and the effect of disease on mobility. METHODS: This study was register-based with a longitudinal design using data on the entire Danish population in 1992-2006. The data included mobility between employers and workplaces and seven different diseases based on admissions to hospital and drug prescriptions. RESULTS: After adjusting for relevant confounders, an exposure-response relationship was seen between mobility and the incidence of ischaemic heart disease, stroke, duodenal ulcer, anxiety/depression and, most strongly, with alcohol-related disorders. The effects were not very strong, however, with odds ratios varying from 1.2 to 1.6. As expected, no effect was seen for colorectal cancer. We also found an effect of both somatic and mental disorders on mobility, but not for the two cancer types. Mobility did not seem to prevent being out of the labour force after diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: Frequent mobility in the labour market increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, common mental disorders and alcohol-related disorders and these diagnoses also seem to increase the risk of subsequent mobility.

Increasing illness among people out of labor market - A Danish register-based study.

In spite of decades of very active labor market policies, 25% of Denmark's population in the working ages are still out-of-work. The aim of this study was to investigate whether that is due to consistent or even increasing prevalence of ill health. For the period of 2002-2011, we investigated if i) the prevalence of four chronic diseases (cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer and mental disorders) among those out-of-work had changed, ii) the occurrence of new cases of those diseases were higher among those who were already out-of-work, or iii) if non-health-related benefits were disproportionately given to individuals recently diagnosed with a disease compared to those without disease. The study was register-based and comprised all Danish residents aged 20-60. During the study period, the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases and mental disorders increased among both employed and non-employed people. The increased prevalence for mental disorder was particularly high among people receiving means-tested benefits. Disease incidence was higher among people outside rather than inside the labor market, especially for mental disorders. Employed people with incident diseases had an unsurprisingly increased risk of leaving the labor market. However, a high proportion of people with incident mental disorders received low level means-tested benefits in the three years following this diagnosis, which is concerning. Men treated for mental disorders in 2006 had high excess probability of receiving a cash-benefit, OR = 4.83 (4.53-5.14) for the period 2007-2010. The estimates were similar for women.

Cancer stage, comorbidity, and socioeconomic differences in the effect of cancer on labour market participation: a danish register-based follow-up study.

PURPOSE: Socioeconomic inequality in return to work after cancer treatment and rehabilitation have been documented, but less is known about its causes. This paper investigates the role played by breast cancer stage at diagnosis and comorbidity. METHODS: We used the comprehensive Danish Cancer Registry to follow 7372 women aged 30-60, who were in the labour force when diagnosed with breast cancer in 2000-06 and survived at least three years. Controls were 213,276 women without breast cancer. Inequalities in employment outlook were estimated as interaction effects in linear regression between educational attainment and disease on employment. RESULTS: There is significant interaction between education and breast cancer, but it is only marginally affected by including stage and comorbidity in the regression models. Education, breast cancer stage, and comorbidity all have strong effects on later employment, and a considerable amount of the educational effect is mediated by comorbidity and pre-cancer labour market participation and income. CONCLUSION: The result of the study is negative in the sense that the stronger effect of breast cancer on employment among low-educated compared to highly educated individuals is not explained by cancer stage or comorbidity. The fact that comorbidity has little impact on inequality may be due to a different social patterning of most comorbidity compared to breast cancer.

What is the association of smoking and alcohol use with the increase in social inequality in mortality in Denmark? A nationwide register-based study.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this paper is to estimate the impact of smoking and alcohol use on the increase in social inequality in mortality in Denmark in the period 1985-2009. DESIGN: A nationwide register-based study. SETTING: Denmark. PARTICIPANTS: The whole Danish population aged 30 years or more in the period 1985-2009. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome is mortality rates in relation to educational attainments calculated with and without deaths related to smoking and alcohol use. An absolute measure of inequality in mortality is applied along with a result on the direct contribution from smoking and alcohol use on the absolute difference in mortality rates. The secondary outcome is life expectancy in relation to educational attainments. RESULTS: Since 1985, Danish overall mortality rates have decreased. Alongside the improvement in mortality, the absolute difference in the mortality rate (per 100,000 persons) between the lowest and the highest educated quartile grew from 465 to 611 among men and from 250 to 386 among women. Smoking and alcohol use have caused 75% of the increase among men and 97% of the increase among women. Among men the increase was mainly caused by alcohol. In women the increase was mainly caused by smoking. CONCLUSIONS: The main explanation for the increase in social inequality in mortality since the mid-1980s is smoking and alcohol use. A significant reduction in the social inequality in mortality can only happen if the prevention of smoking and alcohol use are targeted to the lower educated part of the Danish population.

Health promotion in primary and secondary schools in Denmark: time trends and associations with schools' and students' characteristics.

BACKGROUND: Schools are important arenas for interventions among children as health promoting initiatives in childhood is expected to have substantial influence on health and well-being in adulthood. In countries with compulsory school attention, all children could potentially benefit from health promotion at the school level regardless of socioeconomic status or other background factors. The first aim was to elucidate time trends in the number and types of school health promoting activities by describing the number and type of health promoting activities in primary and secondary schools in Denmark. The second aim was to investigate which characteristics of schools and students that are associated with participation in many (≥3) versus few (0-2) health promoting activities during the preceding 2-3 years. METHODS: We used cross-sectional data from the 2006- and 2010-survey of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study. The headmasters answered questions about the school's participation in health promoting activities and about school size, proportion of ethnic minorities, school facilities available for health promoting activities, competing problems and resources at the school and in the neighborhood. Students provided information about their health-related behavior and exposure to bullying which was aggregated to the school level. A total of 74 schools were available for analyses in 2006 and 69 in 2010. We used chi-square test, t-test, and binary logistic regression to analyze time trends and differences between schools engaging in many versus few health promoting activities. RESULTS: The percentage of schools participating in ≥3 health promoting activities was 63% in 2006 and 61% in 2010. Also the mean number of health promoting activities was similar (3.14 vs. 3.07). The activities most frequently targeted physical activity (73% and 85%) and bullying (78% and 67%). Schools' participation in anti-smoking activities was significantly higher in 2006 compared with 2010 (46% vs. 29%). None of the investigated variables were associated with schools' participation in health promoting activities. CONCLUSION: In a Danish context, schools' participation in health promotion was rather stable from 2006 to 2010 and unrelated to the measured characteristics of the schools and their students.

The effect of breast cancer on personal income three years after diagnosis by cancer stage and education: a register-based cohort study among Danish females.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether there is an association between stage of incident breast cancer (BC) and personal income three years after diagnosis. The analysis further considered whether the association differed among educational groups. METHODS: The study was based on information from Danish nationwide registers. A total of 7,372 women aged 30-60 years diagnosed with BC, 48% with metastasis, were compared to 213,276 controls. Generalised linear models were used to estimate the effect of a cancer diagnosis on personal gross income three years after diagnosis, stratified by education and stage of cancer. The models were adjusted for income two years prior to cancer diagnosis and demographic, geographic and co-morbidity covariates. RESULTS: Adjusting for income two years prior to cancer diagnosis and other baseline covariates (see above), cancer had a minor effect on personal income three years after diagnosis. The effect of metastatic BC was a statistically significant reduction in income three years after diagnosis of -3.4% (95% CI -4.8;-2.0), -2.8% (95% CI -4.3;-1.3) and -4.1 (95% CI -5.9;-2.3) among further, vocational and low educated women, respectively. The corresponding estimates for the effect of localised BC were -2.5% (95% CI -3.8; -1.2), -1.6% (95% CI -3.0; -0.2) and -1.7% (95% CI -3.7; 0.3); the latter estimate (for the low-educated) was not statistically different from zero. We found no statistically significant educational gradient in the effect of cancer stage on income. CONCLUSIONS: In a Danish context, the very small negative effect of BC on personal income may be explained by different types of compensation in low- and high-income groups. The public income transfers are equal for all income groups and cover a relatively high compensation among low-income groups. However, high-income groups additionally receive pay-outs from private pension and insurance schemes, which typically provide higher coverage for high-income workers.

Risk of breast cancer in relation to combined effects of hormone therapy, body mass index, and alcohol use, by hormone-receptor status.

BACKGROUND: Alcohol consumption, increased body mass index (BMI), and hormone therapy are risk factors for postmenopausal breast cancer, but their combined effects are not well understood. Because hormone therapy is effective for the relief of menopausal symptoms, the identification of "high-risk" users is important for therapeutic reasons. We investigated interactions between hormone therapy use and alcohol-use/high BMI status in relation to invasive breast cancer risk, both overall and according to estrogen receptor (ER) status. METHODS: Two Danish prospective cohorts were pooled, including 30,789 women ages 50+ years (study period 1981 to 2009). Information on risk factors was obtained in baseline questionnaires. We performed analyses using the Aalen additive hazards model. Serum estradiol and testosterone measurements were obtained in a subsample of approximately 1000 women. RESULTS: During 392,938 person-years of follow-up, 1579 women developed invasive breast cancer. Among nonusers of hormone therapy, the risk of breast cancer was slightly increased with overweight/obesity and increasing alcohol consumption. Compared with normal-weight nonusers, the risk of breast cancer was higher in hormone therapy users across all BMI strata (P for interaction = 0.003). A markedly higher risk of breast cancer was also observed for alcohol combined with hormone therapy use compared with abstinent nonusers (P for interaction = 0.02). These effects were primarily restricted to ER-positive cases. Combined effects of hormone therapy/high BMI and hormone therapy/alcohol on serum estradiol and testosterone supported the hypothesis of a hormonal pathway linking these exposures to breast cancer. CONCLUSION: These analyses suggest an increased risk of breast cancer associated with hormone therapy use-a risk that may be particularly strong among women consuming alcohol.

Combined effects of socioeconomic position, smoking, and hypertension on risk of ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Combined effects of socioeconomic position and well-established risk factors on stroke incidence have not been formally investigated. METHODS: In a pooled cohort study of 68 643 men and women aged 30 to 70 years in Denmark, we examined the combined effect and interaction between socioeconomic position (ie, education), smoking, and hypertension on ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke incidence by the use of the additive hazards model. RESULTS: During 14 years of follow-up, 3613 ischemic strokes and 776 hemorrhagic strokes were observed. Current smoking and hypertension were more prevalent among those with low education. Low versus high education was associated with greater ischemic, but not hemorrhagic, stroke incidence. The combined effect of low education and current smoking was more than expected by the sum of their separate effects on ischemic stroke incidence, particularly among men: 134 (95% confidence interval, 49-219) extra cases per 100 000 person-years because of interaction, adjusted for age, cohort study, and birth cohort. There was no clear evidence of interaction between low education and hypertension. The combined effect of current smoking and hypertension was more than expected by the sum of their separate effects on ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke incidence. This effect was most pronounced for ischemic stroke among women: 178 (95% confidence interval, 103-253) extra cases per 100 000 person-years because of interaction, adjusted for age, cohort study, and birth cohort. CONCLUSIONS: Reducing smoking in those with low socioeconomic position and in those with hypertension could potentially reduce social inequality stroke incidence.

Effect of socioeconomic position on patient outcome after hysterectomy.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between socioeconomic position (assessed by education, employment and income) and complications following hysterectomy and assess the role of lifestyle, co-morbidity and clinical conditions on the relationship. DESIGN: Register-based cohort study. SETTING AND POPULATION: The study included nearly all Danish women (n = 22 150) registered with a benign elective hysterectomy in the Danish Hysterectomy Database in 2004-2008. METHODS: Data were analyzed using logistic regression models estimating the odds ratio with 95% confidence intervals. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Complications following hysterectomy. RESULTS: Seventeen percent of the women experienced complications in relation to the hysterectomy. Women with less than high school education and unemployed women had higher odds of infection, complications and readmission than women with more than high school education and employed women. Furthermore, unemployed women had higher odds of hospitalization >4 days than women in employment. Lifestyle factors (smoking and body mass index) and co-morbidity status seemed to explain most of the social differences. However, an association between women with less than high school education and all complications remained unexplained. Furthermore, differences in lifestyle and co-morbidity status only partially explained the higher odds of infection, complications and hospitalization >4 days for unemployed than employed women. CONCLUSION: Women with a low socioeconomic position have significantly higher odds of complications following hysterectomy compared with women with a high socioeconomic position. Unhealthy lifestyle and presence of co-morbidity in women with low socioeconomic position partially explains the differences in complications.

Assessment of health impacts of decreased smoking prevalence in Copenhagen: Application of the DYNAMO-HIA model.

AIMS: Tobacco smoking is among the leading risk factors for chronic disease and early death in developed countries, including Denmark, where smoking causes 14% of the disease burden. In Denmark, many public health interventions, including smoking prevention, are undertaken by the municipalities, but models to estimate potential health effects of local interventions are lacking. The aim of the current study was to model the effects of decreased smoking prevalence in Copenhagen, Denmark. METHODS: The DYNAMO-HIA model was applied to the population of Copenhagen, by using health survey data and data from Danish population registers. We modelled the effects of four intervention scenarios aimed at different target groups, compared to a reference scenario. The potential effects of each scenario were modelled until 2040. RESULTS: A combined scenario affecting both initiation rates among youth, and cessation and re-initiation rates among adults, which reduced the smoking prevalence to 4% by 2025, would have large beneficial effects on incidence and prevalence of smoking-related diseases and mortality. Health benefits could also be obtained through interventions targeting only cessation or re-initiation rates, whereas an intervention targeting only initiation among youth had marginal effects on morbidity and mortality within the modelled time frame. CONCLUSIONS: By modifying the DYNAMO-HIA model, we were able to estimate the potential health effects of four interventions to reduce smoking prevalence in the population of Copenhagen. The effect of the interventions on future public health depended on population subgroup(s) targeted, duration of implementation and intervention reach.

Education and cause-specific mortality: the mediating role of differential exposure and vulnerability to behavioral risk factors.

BACKGROUND: Differential exposures to behavioral risk factors have been shown to play an important mediating role on the education-mortality relation. However, little is known about the extent to which educational attainment interacts with health behavior, possibly through differential vulnerability. METHODS: In a cohort study of 76,294 participants 30 to 70 years of age, we estimated educational differences in cause-specific mortality from 1980 through 2009 and the mediating role of behavioral risk factors (smoking, alcohol intake, physical activity, and body mass index). With the use of marginal structural models and three-way effect decomposition, we simultaneously regarded the behavioral risk factors as intermediates and clarified the role of their interaction with educational exposure. RESULTS: Rate differences in mortality comparing participants with low to high education were 1,277 (95% confidence interval = 1,062 to 1,492) per 100,000 person-years for men and 746 (598 to 894) per 100,000 person-years for women. Smoking was the strongest mediator for cardiovascular disease, cancer, and respiratory disease mortality when conditioning on sex, age, and cohort. The proportion mediated through smoking was most pronounced in cancer mortality as a combination of the pure indirect effect, owing to differential exposure (men, 42% [25% to 75%]; women, 36% [17% to 74%]) and the mediated interactive effect, owing to differential vulnerability (men, 18% [2% to 35%], women, 26% [8% to 50%]). The mediating effects through body mass index, alcohol intake, or physical activity were partial and varied for the causes of deaths. CONCLUSION: Differential exposure and vulnerability should be addressed simultaneously, as these mechanisms are not mutually exclusive and may operate at the same time.

Cohort profile: the Social Inequality in Cancer (SIC) cohort study.

The Social Inequality in Cancer (SIC) cohort study was established to determine pathways through which socioeconomic position affects morbidity and mortality, in particular common subtypes of cancer. Data from seven well-established cohort studies from Denmark were pooled. Combining these cohorts provided a unique opportunity to generate a large study population with long follow-up and sufficient statistical power to develop and apply new methods for quantification of the two basic mechanisms underlying social inequalities in cancer-mediation and interaction. The SIC cohort included 83 006 participants aged 20-98 years at baseline. A wide range of behavioural and biological risk factors such as smoking, physical inactivity, alcohol intake, hormone replacement therapy, body mass index, blood pressure and serum cholesterol were assessed by self-administered questionnaires, physical examinations and blood samples. All participants were followed up in nationwide demographic and healthcare registries. For those interested in collaboration, further details can be obtained by contacting the Steering Committee at the Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, at inan@sund.ku.dk.

At cancer diagnosis: a 'window of opportunity' for behavioural change towards physical activity. A randomised feasibility study in patients with colon and breast cancer.

INTRODUCTION: Challenges exist in identifying, recruiting and motivating sedentary patients with cancer to initiate physical activity towards recommended levels. We hypothesise that the onset period of adjuvant chemotherapy can be 'the open window of opportunity' to identify and motivate sedentary patients with breast and colon cancers, at risk for developing coronary heart disease, to initiate and sustain lifestyle changes. AIMS: To investigate the feasibility of oncologists/nurses screening for physical inactivity, in order to identify and recruit an at-risk population of sedentary patients with breast or colon cancer at the onset of adjuvant chemotherapy. Furthermore, the study will examine the adherence to one of two multimodal exercise interventions lasting 12 weeks; (1) hospital-based, high intensity, group exercise intervention (2) home-based, low intensity, individual, pedometer intervention. Both arms will be compared with a control group. METHODS AND ANALYSES: All newly referred patients will be screened for sedentary behaviour, using national recommendations. Testing at baseline, 6, 12 and 39 weeks will include; (1) physiological testing (VO2-peak, one repetition maximum muscle strength and lung function (2) fasting full body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scan (3) fasting blood glucose, insulin, lipids and cholesterols, (4) psychometric questionnaires (general well-being, quality of life, anxiety and depression, motivational readiness). The randomised controlled trial feasibility design is selected in order to examine barriers for recruitment, programme adherence, safety aspects and potential efficacy to the interventions during adjuvant chemotherapy. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The Scientific Committee of the Capital Region (case No. H-1-2011-131) and the Danish Data Protection Agency (j. No. 2011-41-6349) approved the study. Data will be entered and locked into a database hosted by the Copenhagen Trial Unit, Rigshosptialet. Data will be available for analyses to project members and the trial statistician after the 45 included patients have completed the 12-week test. Results will be published in peer-reviewed scientific journals. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN24901641.

Educational differences in postmenopausal breast cancer--quantifying indirect effects through health behaviors, body mass index and reproductive patterns.

Studying mechanisms underlying social inequality in postmenopausal breast cancer is important in order to develop prevention strategies. Standard methods for investigating indirect effects, by comparing crude models to adjusted, are often biased. We applied a new method enabling the decomposition of the effect of educational level on breast cancer incidence into indirect effects through reproductive patterns (parity and age at first birth), body mass index and health behavior (alcohol consumption, physical inactivity, and hormone therapy use). The study was based on a pooled cohort of 6 studies from the Copenhagen area including 33,562 women (1,733 breast cancer cases) aged 50-70 years at baseline. The crude absolute rate of breast cancer was 399 cases per 100,000 person-years. A high educational level compared to low was associated with 74 (95% CI 22-125) extra breast cancer cases per 100,000 person-years at risk. Of these, 26% (95% CI 14%-69%) could be attributed to alcohol consumption. Similar effects were observed for age at first birth (32%; 95% CI 10%-257%), parity (19%; 95%CI 10%-45%), and hormone therapy use (10%; 95% CI 6%-18%). Educational level modified the effect of physical activity on breast cancer. In conclusion, this analysis suggests that a substantial number of the excess postmenopausal breast cancer events among women with a high educational level compared to a low can be attributed to differences in alcohol consumption, use of hormone therapy, and reproductive patterns. Women of high educational level may be more vulnerable to physical inactivity compared to women of low educational level.