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. 2024 Feb 29;22:89. doi: 10.1186/s12916-024-03280-8

Table 3.

Relative risks (95% confidence interval) of frailty according to subcategories of milk, yogurt, and cheese among 85,280 women aged ≥ 60y in the Nurses’ Health Study

Low-fat milk Dairy categories P value Per serving/d increment
 < 1/wk 1/wk 2 to 4 /wk 5 to 6 /wk 1/d  ≥ 2/d
Participants, n 18,024 9730 23,724 10,730 16,997 6075
Person-yr 245,473 162,295 413,756 184,349 281,619 85,823
Frailty cases, n 2467 1851 5023 2206 3438 927
Age-adjusted 1.00 1.01 (0.95, 1.08) 1.02 (0.97, 1.07) 1.00 (0.95, 1.06) 1.04 (0.99, 1.10) 1.01 (0.94, 1.09) 0.34 1.02 (0.99, 1.04)
Multivariable modela 1.00 0.98 (0.92, 1.04) 0.96 (0.91, 1.01) 0.94 (0.88, 0.99) 0.95 (0.90, 1.00) 0.96 (0.89, 1.03) 0.16 0.99 (0.97, 1.02)
Multivariable modelb 1.00 0.99 (0.93, 1.06) 0.99 (0.94, 1.04) 0.98 (0.93, 1.04) 1.00 (0.95, 1.06) 1.01 (0.93, 1.09) 0.70 1.01 (0.99, 1.04)
Whole milk  < 1/wk 1/wk 2 to 4 /wk 5 to 6 /wk  ≥ 1/d
 Participants, n 64,384 8316 8546 1683 2351
 Person-yr 1,081,896 132,340 116,060 20,374 22,645
 Frailty cases, n 12,834 1548 1160 185 185
 Age-adjusted 1.00 1.08 (1.02, 1.14) 1.01 (0.95, 1.08) 1.02 (0.88, 1.17) 1.17 (1.01, 1.35) 0.03 1.07 (0.99, 1.15)
 Multivariable modela 1.00 1.08 (1.03, 1.14) 1.04 (0.98, 1.10) 1.07 (0.93, 1.24) 1.24 (1.07, 1.43)  < 0.001 1.12 (1.03, 1.20)
 Multivariable modelb 1.00 1.03 (0.98, 1.09) 0.97 (0.92, 1.04) 0.98 (0.85, 1.14) 1.15 (0.99, 1.33) 0.41 1.01 (0.93, 1.09)
Plain yogurt Never  < 1/wk 1/wk 2 to 4 /wk  ≥ 5/wk
 Participants, n 45,147 19,278 4937 7839 2501
 Person-yr 610,104 460,222 97,819 134,140 30,734
 Frailty cases, n 6260 6601 1240 1506 242
 Age-adjusted 1.00 0.98 (0.94, 1.01) 0.90 (0.85, 0.96) 0.95 (0.90, 1.01) 0.90 (0.79, 1.02) 0.01 0.89 (0.81, 0.97)
 Multivariable modela 1.00 0.95 (0.92, 0.99) 0.88 (0.83, 0.94) 0.92 (0.86, 0.97) 0.89 (0.78, 1.01)  < 0.001 0.85 (0.78, 0.93)
 Multivariable modelb 1.00 1.00 (0.96, 1.04) 0.96 (0.90, 1.03) 1.02 (0.96, 1.08) 1.01 (0.89, 1.15) 0.69 1.01 (0.92, 1.10)
Sweetened yogurt Never  < 1/wk 1/wk 2 to 4 /wk  ≥ 5/wk
 Participants, n 50,587 20,012 3622 4472 1009
 Person-yr 696,624 484,291 67,644 73,079 11,381
 Frailty cases, n 7363 6916 843 650 77
 Age-adjusted 1.00 0.96 (0.93, 0.99) 0.90 (0.84, 0.97) 0.78 (0.72, 0.84) 0.85 (0.68, 1.07)  < 0.001 0.64 (0.55, 0.74)
 Multivariable modela 1.00 0.99 (0.96, 1.03) 1.02 (0.95, 1.10) 0.94 (0.86, 1.02) 1.07 (0.86, 1.34) 0.50 0.96 (0.84, 1.10)
 Multivariable modelb 1.00 1.01 (0.98, 1.05) 1.06 (0.99, 1.14) 0.98 (0.90, 1.06) 1.13 (0.90, 1.42) 0.63 1.04 (0.91, 1.20)
Low-fat cheese  < 1/wk 1/wk 2 to 4 /wk 5 to 6 /wk  ≥ 1/d
 Participants, n 48,095 20,676 14,780 1173 556
 Person-yr 723,330 364,472 260,337 18,100 7075
 Frailty cases, n 7811 4428 3352 245 76
 Age-adjusted 1.00 1.03 (0.99, 1.07) 1.08 (1.03, 1.12) 1.18 (1.04, 1.34) 1.09 (0.87, 1.38)  < 0.001 1.17 (1.08, 1.28)
 Multivariable modela 1.00 1.00 (0.96, 1.03) 1.02 (0.98, 1.06) 1.14 (1.00, 1.30) 1.12 (0.89, 1.40) 0.06 1.06 (0.97, 1.15)
 Multivariable modelb 1.00 1.05 (1.01, 1.09) 1.11 (1.06, 1.16) 1.26 (1.11, 1.44) 1.21 (0.96, 1.53)  < 0.001 1.26 (1.15, 1.37)
High-fat cheese  < 1/wk 1/wk 2 to 4 /wk 5 to 6 /wk  ≥ 1/d
 Participants, n 11,915 19,595 42,254 7219 4297
 Person-yr 218,197 359,160 648,107 94,930 52,920
 Frailty cases, n 2553 4472 7358 969 560
 Age-adjusted 1.00 1.11 (1.05, 1.16) 1.13 (1.08, 1.18) 1.12 (1.04, 1.21) 1.22 (1.11, 1.34)  < 0.001 1.12 (1.06, 1.18)
 Multivariable modela 1.00 1.07 (1.02, 1.12) 1.08 (1.03, 1.13) 1.07 (0.99, 1.15) 1.19 (1.08, 1.31) 0.003 1.09 (1.03, 1.16)
 Multivariable modelb 1.00 1.05 (1.00, 1.10) 1.04 (0.99, 1.09) 1.01 (0.93, 1.09) 1.12 (1.02, 1.23) 0.18 1.04 (0.98, 1.10)

aCox regression model adjusted for: age (months), calendar time (4-y intervals), census tract income (< $45,000, $45,000–$59,999, $60,000–$74,999, $75,000–$99,999, or ≥ $100,000/y), education (registered nursing degrees, bachelor’s degree, masters or doctorate degree), baseline body mass index (< 25.0, 25.0–29.9, ≥ 30.0 kg/m2), smoking status (never, past, and current 1–14, 15–24, and ≥ 25 cigarettes/day), alcohol intake (0, 1.0–4.9, 5.0–14.9, or ≥ 15.0 g/d), energy intake (quintiles of kcal/d) and medication use (aspirin, postmenopausal hormone therapy, diuretics, β-blockers, calcium channel blockers, ACE inhibitors, other blood pressure medication, lipid lowering medication, insulin, and oral hypoglycemic medication)

bAdjustment as in the previous model and additionally adjusted for adherence to the Alternate Healthy Eating Index (quartiles). Low-fat milk, whole milk, plain yogurt, sweetened yogurt, low-fat cheese, and high-fat cheese were mutually adjusted for each other (all in categories)