Risk Factors for Colorectal Adenocarcinoma in an Indigenous Population in East Africa

Introduction: The incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC) is increasing in East Africa. Changes in lifestyle and dietary changes, particularly alcohol consumption, smoking, and consumption of cooked meats with a reduction in fibre in the diet may be responsible. The objective of our study was to determine the risk factors responsible for CRC in Uganda. Methods: We recruited 129 participants with histologically proven colorectal adenocarcinoma and 258 control participants from four specialized hospitals in central Uganda from 2019 to 2021. Controls were block matched for age ([+ or -]5 years) and sex of the case participants. The risk factor variables included; area of residence, tribe, body mass index (BMI), smoking, alcohol consumption and family history of gastrointestinal cancer. We used conditional or ordinal logistic regression to obtain crude and adjusted odds ratios for risk factors associated with CRC. Results: In bivariate analysis, case participants were more likely to be associated with urban residence (cOR:62.11; p