Aims, design and methods of a case-control study for the assessment of the role of dietary habits, eating behaviors and environmental factors, on the development of breast cancer.

Mourouti, Niki; Papavagelis, Christos; Psaltopoulou, Theodora; Aravantinos, Gerasimos; Samantas, Epaminondas; Filopoulos, Evangelos; Manousou, Aikaterini; Plytzanopoulou, Petrini; Vassilakou, Tonia; Malamos, Nikolaos; Panagiotakos, Demosthenes B

In this work the aims, methodology and procedures of a case-control study that was developed for assessing the role of dietary habits, eating behaviors and environmental factors on the development of breast cancer, is presented. During 2010-2012, 250 consecutive women patients, newly diagnosed with breast cancer and 250 population-based, healthy subjects (controls) age-matched to the cases, were enrolled. Socio-demographic, dietary, psychological, lifestyle as well as environmental characteristics (i.e., exposure to pollution, pesticides, electromagnetic fields and radon) were recorded through face-to-face interviews with the participants. Dietary habits and eating behaviors were evaluated with a special questionnaire that had been developed for the study, and was found relatively valid and reliable.