Table 3.
Associations between spicy food and chili pepper consumption and cancer outcomes and GERD
| Outcome | Category | Study | No. of cases/total | MA metric | Estimates | 95% CI | No. of studies in MA | Cohort | Case control | Cross‐sectional | Effects model | I 2 | Egger test p‐value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cancer outcomes | |||||||||||||
| Cancer | High spicy food | Chen 2016 | 7884/18 026 | OR | 1.76 | 1.35–2.29 | 39 | 0 | 39 | 0 | Random | 88.30% | 0.714 |
| Gastric cancer | High spicy food | Chen 2017 | NA/18 026 | OR | 2.16 | 1.26–3.71 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 0 | Random | 91.30% | NA |
| Gastric cancer | Chili | Chen 2017 | NA/18 026 | OR | 2.07 | 0.73–5.91 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | Random | 94.00% | NA |
| Esophageal cancer | High spicy food | Chen 2017 | NA/18 026 | OR | 1.43 | 0.92–2.22 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 0 | Random | 77.10% | NA |
| Esophageal cancer | Chili | Chen 2017 | NA/18 026 | OR | 2.75 | 2.04–3.70 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | Random | 9.60% | NA |
| Gallbladder cancer | High spicy food | Chen 2017 | NA/18 026 | OR | 1.78 | 0.83–3.83 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | Random | 75.00% | NA |
| Gallbladder cancer | Chili | Chen 2017 | NA/18 026 | OR | 1.78 | 0.83–3.83 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | Random | 75.00% | NA |
| Others included breast cancer, colorectal cancer, laryngeal cancer, oral cancer, and pharyngeal cancer. | High spicy food | Chen 2017 | NA/18 026 | OR | 1.67 | 1.07–2.60 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 0 | Random | 90.00% | NA |
| Others included breast cancer, colorectal cancer, laryngeal cancer, oral cancer, and pharyngeal cancer. | Chili | Chen 2017 | NA/18 026 | OR | 1.34 | 0.75–2.40 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | Random | 91.70% | NA |
| Gastric cancer | Chili | Du 2020 | 3095/7856 | OR | 1.96 | 1.59–2.42 | 13 | 0 | 13 | 0 | Random | 74.70% | 0.288 |
| Gastric cancer | Chili | Du 2020 | NA/7856 | ORa) | 0.55 | 0.37–0.81 | NA | NA | NA | NA | Random | NA | NA |
| Gastric cancer | Chili | Du 2020 | NA/7857 | ORb) | 0.72 | 0.36–1.41 | NA | NA | NA | NA | Random | NA | NA |
| Gastric cancer | Chili | Du 2020 | NA/7858 | ORc) | 2.28 | 1.76–2.96 | NA | NA | NA | NA | Random | NA | NA |
| GERD | Spicy food | Castillo 2015 | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
GERD, gastroesophageal reflux disease; NA, not available; OR, odds ratio;
a)Low consumption (0–30 mg day‐1);
b)Moderate consumption (30–90 mg day‐1);
c)High consumption (90–250 mg day‐1).