Table 3.
Hazard ratios (HR)* for total mortality associated with intake of fast-food items (FFI) and sugar-sweetened drinks (SSD), stratified by morbidity score† at baseline, among older adults (n 69 582) enrolled in the Vitamins and Lifestyle (VITAL) study in 2000–2002
| Quartile of intake | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||||||
| No. of deaths | Ref. | HR | 95 % CI | HR | 95 % CI | HR | 95 % CI | P trend | P interaction | |
| FFI (servings/week) | 0–0·5 | 0·6–1·3 | 1·4–2·4 | ≥2·5 | 0·27 | |||||
| Total | 4187 | 1·00 | 1·08 | 0·98, 1·19 | 1·10 | 0·99, 1·22 | 1·16 | 1·04, 1·29 | 0·008 | |
| Low morbidity score | 909 | 1·00 | 0·96 | 0·78, 1·19 | 1·05 | 0·85, 1·31 | 1·21 | 0·97, 1·51 | 0·07 | |
| High morbidity score | 3278 | 1·00 | 1·11 | 1·00, 1·24 | 1·12 | 1·00, 1·26 | 1·14 | 1·01, 1·29 | 0·04 | |
| SSD (servings/week) | 0–0·1 | 0·2–0·4 | 0·5–2·7 | ≥2·8 | <0·0001 | |||||
| Total | 4187 | 1·00 | 1·08 | 0·98, 1·19 | 1·10 | 1·01, 1·19 | 1·19 | 1·08, 1·30 | <0·0001 | |
| Low morbidity score | 909 | 1·00 | 0·98 | 0·80, 1·21 | 1·02 | 0·85, 1·22 | 1·08 | 0·89, 1·31 | 0·46 | |
| High morbidity score | 3278 | 1·00 | 1·10 | 0·99, 1·23 | 1·12 | 1·02, 1·24 | 1·22 | 1·10, 1·35 | <0·0001 | |
Ref., referent category.
All models adjusted for age, sex, race/ethnicity, marital status (married/living together, never married, separated/divorced, widowed), education (≤high-school graduate, some college, college/advanced degree), annual income (<$US 40 000, $US 40 000–59 999, $US 60 000–79 999, ≥$US 80 000, missing), BMI at age 45 years (<18·5 kg/m2, 18·5–24·9 kg/m2, 25·0–29·9 kg/m2, ≥30·0 kg/m2, missing), average yearly change in BMI from age 45 years, morbidity score †, self-rated health (excellent, very good, good, fair, poor), current use of cholesterol-lowering medication (yes/no), aspirin use in last 10 years (none, low, high, missing), non-aspirin non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug use in last 10 years (none, low, high, missing), years of oestrogen therapy (none, <5, 5–9, ≥10), years of oestrogen plus progestin therapy (none, <5, 5–9, ≥10), age at menopause (<40, 40–44, 45–49, 50–54, ≥55 years), age at death of father (<60, 60–69, 70–79, 80–89, ≥90 years), age at death of mother (<60, 60–69, 70–79, 80–89, ≥90 years), average physical activity in 10 years before baseline (tertiles of MET×h/week, where MET is metabolic equivalents of task), smoking status (never, former, current), average alcohol intake (tertiles of g/d), mammogram in past 2 years (yes/no), prostrate-specific antigen test in the last 2 years (yes/no), sigmoidoscopy in the last 10 years (yes/no), number of servings/d of fruits (quartiles), number of servings/d of vegetables (quartiles) and total daily energy intake (continuous).
Using Cox regression, the following conditions (yes/no) were modelled simultaneously in sex-specific and age-adjusted models to obtain a continuous morbidity score: current use of medication for depression or anxiety; current use of blood pressure medication; history of cancer of the lung, colon, bladder, pancreas, breast, cervix, uterus, ovaries, and all other sites combined except non-melanoma skin cancer (all as separate variables); IHD (defined as history of heart attack, coronary bypass surgery, angioplasty, or diagnosis of angina); stroke; congestive heart failure; rheumatoid arthritis; diabetes; viral hepatitis; cirrhosis of the liver; other chronic liver disease; emphysema, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; kidney disease; ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease; Parkinson’s disease; and osteoporosis in women.