Association between obesity and prostate cancer diagnosis in elderly men: Secondary analysis of the sabe survey

Abstract

Introduction Metabolic syndrome is a very prevalent condition in our society, and during the last two decades the prevalence has increased remarkably becoming a problem with a significant health burden. Prostate cancer, on the other side, is the leading cause of cancer in men around the world. Several studies have suggested an association between the presence of metabolic syndrome and the diagnosis of prostate cancer. The information about the association of prostate cancer and obesity is controversial. Our objective is to determine if there is a relationship between the presence of obesity and the diagnosis of prostate cancer in older adults in the city of Bogotá. Objective and Methods Data from the Health, Wellbeing and Aging study (SABE) Bogotá 2012 were analyzed. Self-report of prostate exam in the last 2 years was used as a dependent variable and was evaluated with respect to anthropometric variables as well as sociodemographic factors through a multivariate analysis. Results The prevalence of prostate cancer was 3.15%. 31.9% of men have a BMI greater than 30. A significant association was found between BMI and the diagnosis of prostate cancer (p = 0.005), coronary disease and prostate cancer (p = 0.03) and level of education and diagnosis of prostate cancer (p = 0.012). Conclusion Our study shows that there is a significant association between these two entities in a Bogota population of older adults. It is necessary to carry out more studies that provide more information about this association.