Cancer incidence among Mormons and non-Mormons in Utah (United States) 1995–1999

Background Population-based Utah Cancer Registry data were linked with Latter-day Saint (LDS or Mormon) Church membership records to obtain site-specific cancer incidence for LDS and non-LDS populations in Utah during 1995–1999. Methods Analyses were based on 27,631 incident cases of cancer identified among whites. Restriction to whites was made because of the small number of nonwhites, approximately 5%, in the state during the study period. The direct method was used to age-adjust the rates to the 2000 U.S. standard population. Results Significantly lower cancer incidence rates per 100,000 were observed among LDS compared with non-LDS males (287.2 vs. 321.1) and females (247.7 vs. 341.0). The lower rates are primarily explained by smoking-related cancers and female breast cancer. If the overall cancer incidence rate in LDS had occurred in the non-LDS population, 2.9% or 421 fewer cases would have occurred among males and 7.9% or 1,025 fewer cases would have occurred among females during the study period. Conclusions Given our current knowledge of risk factors for cancer, differences between LDS and non-LDS in smoking for males and smoking and sexual and reproductive behaviors in females primarily explain the lower risk of cancer in LDS populations.