Table 3.

Associations between ultra-processed food (g/d) and incident cardiovascular outcomes among middle aged women (n = 9591)

	Quintile 1	Quintile 2		Quintile 3		Quintile 4			Quintile 5
	Reference	OR	95% CI, p value	OR	95% CI, p value	OR		95% CI, p value	OR	95% CI, p value	P trend
Primary endpoints
CVD
Univariate	1.0 (reference)	0.92	0.75–1.13, p = 0.44	1.08	0.88–1.31, p = 0.48	0.99		0.81–1.21, p = 0.91	1.04	0.85–1.27, p = 0.73	0.55
Model 1	1.0 (reference)	0.93	0.73–1.19, p = 0.57	1.26	1.00–1.59, p = 0.05	1.04		0.82–1.32, p = 0.76	1.15	0.91–1.46, p = 0.25	0.17
Model 2	1.0 (reference)	0.91	0.70–1.18, p = 0.49	1.18	0.92–1.51, p = 0.20	0.97		0.75–1.26, p = 0.82	1.17	0.91–1.51, p = 0.22	0.20
Model 3	1.0 (reference)	0.92	0.71–1.20, p = 0.56	1.21	0.93–1.56, p = 0.16	1.00		0.76–1.32, p = 1.00	1.22	0.92–1.61, p = 0.16	0.18
Secondary endpoints
Hypertension
Univariate	1.0 (reference)	1.14	0.97–1.35, p = 0.12	1.12	0.95–1.32, p = 0.16	1.14		0.97–1.34, p = 0.12	1.16	0.99–1.37, p = 0.07	0.11
Model 1	1.0 (reference)	1.18	0.97–1.43, p = 0.10	1.26	1.05–1.53, p = 0.02	1.26		1.04–1.53, p = 0.02	1.24	1.03–1.50, p = 0.03	0.03
Model 2	1.0 (reference)	1.22	0.99–1.50, p = 0.06	1.23	1.00–1.51, p = 0.05	1.28		1.04–1.58, p = 0.02	1.31	1.07–1.61, p = 0.01	0.02
Model 3	1.0 (reference)	1.26	1.02–1.55, p = 0.04	1.26	1.02–1.56, p = 0.04	1.32		1.06–1.65, p = 0.01	1.39	1.10–1.74, p = 0.005	0.02
All-cause mortality
Univariate	1.0 (reference)	0.78	0.59–1.04, p = 0.09	0.73	0.55–0.98, p = 0.04	0.77		0.58–1.02, p = 0.07	0.81	0.61–1.07, p = 0.13	0.15
Model 1	1.0 (reference)	0.75	0.54–1.04, p = 0.09	0.72	0.52–1.01, p = 0.05	0.75		0.54–1.04, p = 0.08	0.76	0.55–1.06, p = 0.10	0.10
Model 2	1.0 (reference)	0.73	0.51–1.05, p = 0.09	0.79	0.56–1.13, p = 0.20	0.85		0.60–1.21, p = 0.37	0.79	0.55–1.14, p = 0.21	0.38
Model 3	1.0 (reference)	0.74	0.51–1.06, p = 0.10	0.81	0.56–1.17, p = 0.25	0.87		0.60–1.27 p = 0.48	0.80	0.54–1.20, p = 0.28	0.49
Secondary endpoints
Type 2 diabetes mellitus
Univariate	1.0 (reference)	1.25	1.00–1.57, p = 0.05	1.13	0.90–1.42, p = 0.28		1.34	1.07–1.66, p = 0.01	1.19	0.95–1.49, p = 0.13	0.11
Model 1	1.0 (reference)	1.24	0.96–1.61, p = 0.10	1.14	0.87–1.48, p = 0.34		1.25	0.97–1.62, p = 0.09	1.13	0.86–1.47, p = 0.38	0.48
Model 2	1.0 (reference)	1.30	0.98–1.74, p = 0.07	1.16	0.87–1.56, p = 0.31		1.16	0.86–1.55, p = 0.33	1.26	0.94–1.70, p = 0.13	0.32
Model 3	1.0 (reference)	1.25	0.93–1.68, p = 0.14	1.10	0.81–1.50, p = 0.53		1.08	0.79–1.48, p = 0.64	1.17	0.84–1.63, p = 0.35	0.74
Obesity
Univariate	1.0 (reference)	1.12	0.92–1.36, p = 0.25	1.35	1.11–1.63, p = 0.002		1.12	0.92–1.36, p = 0.26	1.03	0.85–1.26, p = 0.74	0.81
Model 1	1.0 (reference)	1.10	0.88–1.38, p = 0.41	1.38	1.11–1.72, p = 0.004		1.11	0.88–1.38, p = 0.38	1.01	0.81–1.27, p = 0.91	0.86
Model 2	1.0 (reference)	1.02	0.77–1.36, p = 0.88	1.23	0.93–1.63, p = 0.15		0.98	0.74–1.31, p = 0.90	1.05	0.79–1.40, p = 0.75	0.96
Model 3	1.0 (reference)	1.07	0.80–1.43, p = 0.67	1.29	0.97–1.73, p = 0.08		1.05	0.77–1.43, p = 0.76	1.16	0.85–1.60, p = 0.36	0.52

Model 1 was adjusted for age, area of residence, marital status, occupation, country of birth, qualification, and household income

Model 2: Model 1 + adjustment for body mass index, menopausal status, type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, physical activity levels, and smoking status

Model 3: Model 2 + adjustment for total fibre, total carbohydrate, total fat intake, total protein, total energy intake (kilojoules), and total alcohol

CVD cardiovascular disease, OR odds ratio, CI confidence intervals

p values that were considered significant (p ≤ 0.05) were in bold