Those excluded from our analytic sample because they did not have adiponectin measured were more likely to have died.
Among these, 236 participants had missing blood mercury results and were thus excluded from the analytic sample (n = 3,637).
Self-reported non-persisters were excluded from the analytic sample because their complete discontinuation of therapy cannot, logically, be unintentional.
Mode of delivery was classified either vaginal spontaneous or vacuum assisted; forceps and breech were excluded from the analytic dataset due to low number of cases.
Finally, survivors who were missing data on surgery and staging were excluded from the analytic sample, and this may have created a selection bias.
As mentioned previously, participants whose activity data did not meet these criteria or who did not provide any information on physical activity were excluded from the analytic cohort.
A subset of patients lacking surgery data presumably did not have surgery and are appropriately excluded from the analytic sample, limiting the bias in our estimates.
SHFS participants excluded from the analytic sample due to loss to follow-up or missing data were less likely to be female (54 vs. 63%) but otherwise similar to those included in the analytic sample.
Respondents who did not confirm the named physician as their physician and/or reported no visits with the physician during the previous 12 months (n = 228) were also excluded from the analytic sample.
Participants who had received a diagnosis of cancer other than primary colon or rectal cancer (N = 4116) were excluded from the analytic sample, leaving a total of 49,312 eligible adults.
