. 2019 Jan 11;22(10):1872–1887. doi: 10.1017/S1368980018003725

Table 1.

General characteristics of studies included in the present meta-analysis of dietary/circulating antioxidants and risk of cardiovascular mortality

Author, year, country	Study	Follow-up (years)	Participants/cases	Sex	Mean age (years)	Age range (years)	Exposure(s)	Exposure assessment	Study quality (max. 9 points)	Adjustments
Bates et al.⁽ ⁴³ ⁾, 2011 UK	British National Diet and Nutrition Survey	13–14	526/189	W/M	77	≥66	Plasma vitamin C, α-tocopherol and β-carotene Dietary vitamin C and vitamin E	Liquid chromatographic assay 4 d weighed dietary record	8	Age and sex
Buijsse et al. ⁽ ⁴⁴ ⁾, 2008 Netherlands	The Zutphen Elderly Study	15	559/197	M	72		Dietary vitamin C, vitamin E and β-carotene	Dietary history method	7	Age, energy intake, smoking, BMI, physical activity, alcohol consumption, socio-economic status, use of multivitamin supplements, use of vitamin C supplements, use of aspirin, use of antihypertensive drugs, use of anticoagulants, diet prescription, intakes of fibre, β-carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, α-tocopherol, folate, SFA, trans-fatty acids and PUFA
Buijsse et al. ⁽ ⁴⁵ ⁾, 2005 Europe	SENECA	10	1168/148	W/M	73		Plasma α-tocopherol	HPLC	8	Age, sex, BMI, serum TC, serum HDL-C, current smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, SENECA centre, and either plasma α-tocopherol or plasma carotene (both continuous)
Fletcher et al. ⁽ ⁴⁶ ⁾, 2003 UK	Medical Research Council Trial of Assessment and Management of Older People in the Community	4·4	1214/128	W/M	78	75–84	Plasma ascorbate, α-tocopherol and β-carotene Dietary vitamin C, vitamin E and β-carotene	HPLC FFQ	7	Age, sex, total energy intake, BMI, cholesterol, SBP, smoking, alcohol, DM, history of CVD or cancer, supplement use, physical activity and housing tenure
Genkinger⁽ ⁴⁷ ⁾, 2004 USA	Washington County study	13	6151/378	W/M	56	30–93	Dietary vitamin C, vitamin E and β-carotene	FFQ	7	Age, smoking status, BMI, cholesterol concentration and energy. Nutrients were energy-adjusted using the residual method
Goyal et al. ⁽ ⁴⁸ ⁾, 2013 USA	NHANES III	14·2	16 008/1891	W/M	≥20		Serum vitamin C and β-carotene	Isocratic HPLC	8	Age, sex, race/ethnicity, level of education, annual family income, BMI, smoking status, serum cotinine level, alcohol consumption, fruit and vegetable intake, physical activity, serum TC level, HTN status, DM status, history of heart attack, congestive heart failure, stroke or cancer, hormone use in women and supplement use
Greenberg et al. ⁽ ⁴⁹ ⁾, 1996 USA	Skin cancer prevention study	8·2	1720/127	W/M	63		Plasma β-carotene	HPLC	7	Age, sex, centre, BMI and smoking
Karppi et al. ⁽ ⁵⁰ ⁾, 2012 Finland	The Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study (KIHD)	15·9	1031/122	M	56	46–65	Serum β-carotene	Reversed-phase HPLC	6	Age, examination year, BMI, SBP, smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, years of education, serum LDL-C, symptomatic CHD or CHD history, use of antihypertensive drugs, use of any beta-blockers, serum hs-CRP and DM
Khaw et al. ⁽ ⁵¹ ⁾, 2001 UK	EPIC-Norfolk	4	19 496/170	W/M	59	45–79	Plasma ascorbic acid	Fluorometric assay	6	Age
Kilander et al. ⁽ ⁵² ⁾, 2001 Sweden	Uppsala study	22·7–25·7	2285/301	M		49–51	Serum β-carotene and α-tocopherol	HPLC	8	Age
Kubota et al. ⁽ ⁵³ ⁾, 2011 Japan	Japan Collaborative Cohort (JACC) Study	16·5	58 730/2690	W/M	56	40–79	Dietary vitamin C and vitamin E	FFQ	8	Age, history of HTN and DM, smoking status, alcohol consumption, BMI, mental stress, walking, sports, education level, dietary intakes of total energy, cholesterol, SFA, n-3 fatty acids and Na
Loria et al. ⁽ ⁵⁴ ⁾, 2000 USA	NHANES II	12–16	7071/506	W/M	48	30–75	Serum ascorbate	2,4-Dinitrophenyl hydrazine method	8	Age at baseline examination, race, educational level, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, DM, serum TC, SBP and BMI
Martin-Calvo et al. ⁽ ⁵⁵ ⁾, 2017 Spain	The SUN project	11	13 421/48	W/M	43		Dietary vitamin C	FFQ	9	Age, sex, BMI, total energy intake, physical activity, television watching, smoking, family history of stroke, treatment with aspirin, number of cardiovascular-related diseases at baseline, prevalent cancer, prevalent HTN, prevalent DM, prevalent hypercholesterolaemia, prevalent hypertriacylglycerolamia, dietary fibre, and MDS without fruit and vegetable intake-related items
Sahyoun et al. ⁽ ⁵⁶ ⁾, 1996 USA	Massachusetts Nutrition Status Survey	9–12	725/108	W/M	73	≥60	Plasma vitamin C Dietary vitamin C	HPLC 3 d food record	6	Age, sex, serum cholesterol, disease status and disabilities affecting shopping
Stepaniak et al. ⁽ ⁵⁷ ⁾, 2016 Three Central and Eastern European countries	HAPIEE study	8	26 993/997	W/M	58	45–69	Dietary vitamin C, vitamin E and β-carotene	FFQ	8	Age, country, education, smoking status, alcohol intake, BMI, HTN, DM, hypercholesterolaemia, history of CVD or cancer, and total energy intake
Wright et al. ⁽ ⁵⁸ ⁾, 2006 Finland	Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention Study	19	29 092/5776	M	57	50–69	Serum α-tocopherol	HPLC	8	Age, cigarettes smoked/d, years smoked, intervention assignment, serum TC, serum HDL-C and history of CVD
Zhao et al. ⁽ ⁵⁹ ⁾, 2017 China	Shanghai Women’s Health Study	14·2	74 619/1819	W	53	40–70	Dietary vitamin C and vitamin E	FFQ	8	Age, energy, birth cohort, education, income, occupation, smoking status, alcohol intake, BMI, WHR, physical activity, history of HTN, DM, CHD and stroke, vitamin supplements use, menopause status, hormone replacement therapy, dietary total carotenes and vitamin C
Zhao et al. ⁽ ⁵⁹ ⁾, 2017 China	Shanghai Men’s Health Study	8·3	59 739/1379	M	55	40–74	Dietary vitamin C and vitamin E	FFQ	8	Age, energy, birth cohort, education, income, occupation, smoking status, alcohol intake, BMI, WHR, physical activity, history of HTN, DM, CHD and stroke, vitamin supplements use, dietary total carotenes and vitamin C

SENECA, Survey in Europe on Nutrition and the Elderly; NHANES, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey; EPIC, European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition; SUN, Seguimiento University of Navarra; HAPIEE, Health, Alcohol and Psychosocial factors In Eastern Europe; W, women; M, men; HDL-C, TC, total cholesterol; HDL-cholesterol; SBP, systolic blood pressure; DM, diabetes mellitus; HTN, hypertension; LDL-C, LDL-cholesterol; hs-CRP, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein; MDS, Mediterranean diet score; WHR, waist-to-hip ratio.