A case-control study of Hodgkin's disease in Brazil. I. Epidemiogic aspects.

A number of epidemiologic variables were investigated in a case-control interview study, conducted in São Paulo, Brazil, of 70 Hodgkin's disease (HD) patients, 70 tumor control subjects matched for age and sex, and 128 siblings of the patients. The major epidemiologic findings were a high percentage of total cases among children, with a high sex ratio, a relative predominance of the mixed cellularity histologic subtype, and a bimodal age-specific incidence curve with the highest rates among young adults and the elderly. When the matched controls were used as the comparison group, high socioeconomic status (SES) was found to be associated with an increased risk for HD (p = 0.001). On the basis of the case-sibling comparison, an association between prior tonsillectomy and risk for HD was found (p = 0.04), and the relative risk for HD among tonsillectomized persons as compared to individuals who had not had the operation was 2.5. Other variables, including sibship size, birth order, marital status, occupational exposure, prior use of amphetamines or diphenylhydantoin, intensity of exposure to children and history of viral illnesses were not found to be determinants of risk for HD in this study.