Squatting and risk of colorectal cancer: a case-control study

ABSTRACT

The sitting position, rather than squatting, during defecation has been hypothesized to be a risk factor for colorectal cancer [CRC]. We conducted a case-control study to test this hypothesis.A total of 100 CRC cases from two hospitals in Iran and 100 control subjects, selected from the coronary care unit [CCU] of those same hospitals were selected for this study. We administered a detailed questionnaire to the study subjects asking about history of toilet use and other relevant confounders. In logistic regression analysis, the crude and adjusted ORs [95% CIs] for using sitting toilets in any decade were 1.20 [0.89 - 1.61] and 1.07 [0.72 - 1.59], respectively. Also, the crude and adjusted ORs [95% CIs] for using 10 more years of sitting toilets were as 1.16 [0.92 -1.47] and 1.02 [0.74 - 1.40], neither of which indicated a statistically significant increase in risk. Our study did not support an appreciable role for using sitting toilets as risk factors for CRC