Table 1.
Age-standardized characteristics of colorectal cancer patients at diagnosis according to quintiles of ultra-processed food intake (n = 2498).a
| Quintile 1 |
Quintile 2 |
Quintile 3 |
Quintile 4 |
Quintile 5 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (n = 499) | (n = 501) | (n = 495) | (n = 503) | (n = 500) | |
| Male, % | 30 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 30 |
| Age, years | 68.1 (9.3) | 68.4 (10.1) | 68.4 (9.7) | 69.1 (8.9) | 69.7 (8.9) |
| Body mass index, kg/m2 | 25.4 (4.9) | 25.7 (4.3) | 26.2 (4.4) | 26.6 (5.2) | 27.4 (4.9) |
| Physical activity, MET-hours/week | 20.6 (27.1) | 18.6 (22.7) | 18.2 (23.3) | 15.9 (21.1) | 17.1 (23.6) |
| Pack-years of smoking | 13.8 (20.1) | 14.6 (21.1) | 18.1 (24.2) | 16.2 (22.1) | 21.1 (24.3) |
| Current smokers, % | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 5 |
| Regular use of aspirin, % | 46 | 49 | 53 | 58 | 53 |
| Alternative Healthy Eating Index | 57.7 (11.2) | 54.8 (11.3) | 52.6 (11.3) | 52.1 (10.5) | 49.9 (11.2) |
| Food and nutrient intake | |||||
| Total fiber, g/day | 22.9 (7.5) | 20.9 (5.8) | 20.5 (6.1) | 20.6 (6.1) | 19.7 (6.8) |
| Total folate, μg/day | 685 (345) | 662 (295) | 639 (313) | 676 (344) | 652 (356) |
| Total sugar, g/day | 102 (31) | 103 (27) | 104 (30) | 103 (31) | 101 (32) |
| Calcium, mg/day | 1227 (603) | 1235 (562) | 1155 (563) | 1200 (572) | 1145 (543) |
| Vitamin D, IU/day | 608 (490) | 569 (423) | 551 (476) | 580 (473) | 522 (443) |
| Marine ω-3 PUFAs, mg/day | 365 (369) | 310 (313) | 272 (287) | 289 (318) | 221 (224) |
| Alcohol, g/day | 10.0 (14.7) | 8.7 (13.5) | 6.6 (10.0) | 6.8 (11.6) | 4.7 (9.6) |
| Ultra-processed foodsb | 3.4 (0.8) | 4.9 (0.5) | 6.0 (0.5) | 7.4 (0.6) | 10.3 (2) |
| Bread and breakfast foodsb | 1.1 (0.6) | 1.4 (0.7) | 1.7 (0.8) | 2.1 (1.1) | 2.4 (1.3) |
| Fats/condiments/saucesb | 0.8 (0.6) | 1.1 (0.6) | 1.4 (0.8) | 1.8 (1) | 2.6 (1.6) |
| Packaged sweet snacks/dessertsb | 0.6 (0.5) | 0.9 (0.6) | 1.1 (0.8) | 1.3 (1) | 1.6 (1.4) |
| Sugar or artificially sweetened beveragesb | 0.2 (0.4) | 0.4 (0.5) | 0.6 (0.6) | 0.7 (0.9) | 1.3 (1.6) |
| Animal protein-based ready-to-eat foodsb | 0.2 (0.2) | 0.3 (0.3) | 0.3 (0.3) | 0.3 (0.3) | 0.4 (0.5) |
| Flavored yogurt/dairy-based dessertsb | 0.3 (0.3) | 0.3 (0.3) | 0.4 (0.3) | 0.3 (0.5) | 0.4 (0.4) |
| Packaged savory snacksb | 0.2 (0.2) | 0.2 (0.2) | 0.3 (0.4) | 0.4 (0.6) | 0.5 (0.9) |
| Ready-to-eat/ready-to-heat mixed dishesb | 0.1 (0.1) | 0.2 (0.1) | 0.2 (0.1) | 0.1 (0.1) | 0.2 (0.2) |
| Other ultra-processed foodsb | 0 (0.1) | 0.1 (0.3) | 0.2 (0.5) | 0.4 (0.9) | 0.9 (1.4) |
| Cancer subsite, % | |||||
| Proximal colon | 43 | 50 | 43 | 43 | 45 |
| Distal colon | 28 | 26 | 35 | 32 | 27 |
| Rectum | 24 | 19 | 18 | 21 | 23 |
| Unspecified | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Cancer differentiation, % | |||||
| Well differentiated | 15 | 12 | 15 | 14 | 14 |
| Moderately differentiated | 61 | 59 | 56 | 61 | 58 |
| Poorly differentiated | 10 | 16 | 13 | 11 | 14 |
| Unspecified | 14 | 13 | 16 | 14 | 14 |
| Cancer stage, % | |||||
| I | 33 | 31 | 35 | 34 | 30 |
| II | 32 | 32 | 29 | 32 | 33 |
| III | 24 | 26 | 24 | 21 | 24 |
| Unspecified | 11 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 14 |
a
Quintiles are created in women and men separately. Means are calculated for continuous variables. All variables are age-standardized except age.
b
Energy-adjusted servings per day.