Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2025 Jan 1.
Published in final edited form as: Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2023 Nov 2;44(1):89–107. doi: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.122.318125

Table 2.

Prospective Cohort Studies by EPA and DHA Levels in Primary Prevention of CVD by Sex and Race

Study
Year
# subjects
Female/male
Mean age
Follow-up
Race ethnicity Characteristics
(exposure)
n-3 type and dosage
Endpoint Outcome of the exposure or intervention
Cardiovascular Health Study12
2013
2,692

63.7% women
Adjusted for sex except
length of life reported separately for women and similar to men
74 years

16 years
687 Blacks (11.7%)
Adjusted for white race
Highest Quintile EPA+DHA compared to lowest


Highest Quintile EPA compared to lowest

Highest Quintile DHA
Compared to lowest
Total mortality 27%↓ HR:0.73, 95% CI, 0.61-0.86, P trend 0.008
Highest quintile lived 2.2 years longer than lowest

17% ↓ HR: 0.83; 95% CI: 0.71-0.98;
P trend < 0.005

20% ↓HR: 0.80; 95% CI: 0.67-0.94;
P trend 0.006
MESA13
2013
2,837
52% female

Men and women reported separately
61.5 years

10 years
2000-2010
White n=724
African American n=697 Chinese American n=711 Hispanic n=705
Top quartile EPA+DHA compared to lowest


Top quartile EPA by sex



Top quartile DHA by sex
Incident CVD
Total group


Women

Men

Women

Men
HR 0.49 and 0.39 for EPA and DHA, respectively, for incident CVD; P trend <0.001

HR 0.39; 95% CI: 0.17-0.88

HR 58; 95% CI: 0.30-1.11

HR 0.32; 95% CI: 0.12- 0.87

HR 0.41; 95% CI: 0.20-0.86
MESA14
2018
6,568
2,837 women
52.9% female
Mean age 62.1 years
15.6 years
Black: n=1,799 27.4% Inverse association between DHA levels and CVD events in Black subjects Incident MI, cardiac arrest, stroke, CHD or stroke death aHR 0.57; 95% CI: 0.34-0.90

Abbreviations: aHR indicates adjusted hazard ratio; CHD, coronary heart disease; CI, confidence interval; CVD, cardiovascular disease; DHA, docosahexaenoic acid; EPA, eicosapentaenoic acid; HR, hazard ratio; MESA, Multiethnic Study of Atherosclerosis; MI, myocardial infarction; n-3, omega-3.