Table 1.
Study characteristics
| Author, year | Country | No of outcomes/No in cohort | Outcome | Follow-up (years) | Age at entry (years) | Sex | Components of score | Adjustment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trichopoulou et al, 1995w1 | Greece | 53/182 | Overall mortality | 4-5 | >70 (mean 75.4) | M/F | 1. High legumes; 2. High cereals; 3. High fruits; 4. High vegetables; 5. High MUFA:SFA ratio; 6. Moderate alcohol; 7. Low meat and meat products; 8. Low milk and dairy products | Age, sex, smoking habit, total diet score |
| Kouris-Blazos et al, 1999w2 | Australia | 36/330 | Overall mortality | 4-6 | ≥70 | M/F | 1. High legumes; 2. High cereals 3. High fruits; 4. High vegetables; 5. High MUFA:SFA ratio; 6. Moderate alcohol; 7. Low meat and meat products; 8. Low milk and dairy products |
Age, sex, smoking habit, ethnic origin |
| Lasheras et al, 2000w3 | Spain | 96/161 | Overall mortality | 9.5 | 65-80 | M/F | 1. High legumes; 2. High cereals; 3. High fruits; 4. High vegetables; 5. High MUFA:SFA ratio; 6. Moderate alcohol; 7. Low meat and meat products; 8. Low milk and dairy products | Age, sex, total diet score, albumin, dieting in response to chronic conditions, BMI, self assessment of health, physical activity |
| Trichopoulou et al, 2003w4 (EPIC) | Greece | 275/22 043; 54/22 04 | Overall mortality; CHD mortality | 3.7 | 20-86 | M/F | 1. High legumes; 2. High cereals; 3. High fruits/nuts; 4. High vegetables; 5. High fish; 6. High MUFA:SFA ratio; 7. Moderate alcohol; 8. Low meat and poultry; 9. Low dairy products | Age, sex, smoking habit, years of education, BMI, waist to hip ratio, energy expenditure score, energy intake, consumption of potatoes and eggs |
| Knoops et al, 2004w5 (HALE project: SENECA and FINE) | Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland | 935/2339; 122/2152; 371/2152; 233/2152 | Overall mortality; CHD mortality; CVD mortality; cancer mortality | 10 | 70-90 | M/F | 1. High legumes/nuts/seeds; 2. High cereals; 3. High fruits; 4. High vegetables/potatoes; 5. High fish; 6. High MUFA:SFA ratio; 7. Low meat and meat products; 8. Low dairy products | Age, sex, smoking habit, physical activity, BMI, dietary habits, alcohol, years of education, study population |
| Trichopoulou et al, 2005w6 (EPIC-elderly) | Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, UK | 3810/67 228 (after exclusion of Greek patients) | Overall mortality | 7.4 | >60 | M/F | 1. High legumes; 2. High cereals; 3. High fruits/nuts; 4. High vegetables; 5. High fish; 6. High MUFA+PUFA:SFA ratio; 7. Moderate alcohol; 8. Low meat and poultry; 9. Low dairy products | Age; sex; smoking habit; diabetes; education; BMI; waist to hip ratio; physical activity; energy; consumption of potatoes, eggs, sugar, and confectionery |
| Lagiou et al, 2006w7 | Sweden | 572/42 237; 280/42 237 | Overall mortality; cancer mortality | 12 | 30-49 | F | 1. High legumes; 2. High cereals; 3. High fruits/nuts; 4. High vegetables; 5. High fish; 6. High MUFA:SFA ratio; 7. Moderate alcohol; 8. Low meat and meat products; 9. Low dairy products | Age; height; BMI; smoking habit; physical activity; education; energy; consumption of potatoes, eggs, PUFA, sweets, and non-alcoholic beverages |
| Fung et al, 2006w8 (nurses’ health study) | USA | 3580/71 058 | Breast cancer | 18 | 30-55 | F | 1. High legumes; 2. High wholegrain products; 3. High fruits; 4. High nuts; 5. High vegetables; 6. High fish; 7. High MUFA:SFA ratio; 8. Moderate alcohol; 9. Low red and processed meats | Age, smoking habit, BMI, multivitamins, energy, physical activity, family history of breast cancer and of benign breast disease, menopause, HRT, weight change since age 18 years |
| Scarmeas et al, 2006w9 | USA | 85/2258 | Alzheimer’s disease | 4 | Mean 77.2 | M/F | 1. High legumes; 2. High cereals; 3. High fruits; 4. High vegetables; 5. High fish; 6. High MUFA:SFA ratio; 7. Moderate alcohol; 8. Low meat; 9. Low dairy products | Age, sex, cohort, ethnicity, smoking habit, BMI, education, energy, ApoE genotype, comorbidity index |
| Gao et al, 2007w10 (health professionals and nurses’ health studies)—men | USA | 508/49 692 | Parkinson’s disease | 16 | 40-75 | M | 1. High legumes; 2. High wholegrain products; 3. High fruits; 4. High nuts; 5. High vegetables; 6. High fish; 7. High MUFA:SFA ratio; 8. Moderate alcohol; 9. Low red and processed meat | Age, smoking habit, BMI, use of NSAIDs, energy, caffeine intake |
| Gao et al, 2007w10 (health professionals and nurses’ health studies)—women | USA | 190/81 676 | Parkinson’s disease | 16 | 40-75 | F | 1. High legumes; 2. High wholegrain products; 3. High fruits; 4. High nuts; 5. High vegetables; 6. High fish; 7. High MUFA:SFA ratio; 8. Moderate alcohol; 9. Low red and processed meat | Age, smoking habit, BMI, use of NSAIDs, energy, caffeine intake |
| Mitrou et al, 2007w11 (National Institutes of Health diet and health study)—men | USA | 18 126/214 284; 2425/214 284; 3717/214 284 | Overall mortality; CVD deaths; cancer deaths | 10 | 50-71 | M | 1. High legumes; 2. High wholegrain products; 3. High fruits; 4. High nuts; 5. High vegetables; 6. High fish; 7. High MUFA:SFA ratio; 8. Moderate alcohol; 9. Low red and processed meat | Age, race, smoking habit, energy, BMI, education, physical activity |
| Mitrou et al, 2007w11 (National Institutes of Health diet and health study)—women | USA | 9673/166 012; 1026/166 012; 2268/166 012 | Overall mortality; CVD deaths; cancer deaths | 10 | 50-71 | F | 1. High legumes; 2. High wholegrain products; 3. High fruits; 4. High nuts; 5. High vegetables; 6. High fish; 7. High MUFA:SFA ratio; 8. Moderate alcohol; 9. Low red and processed meat | Age, race, smoking habit, energy, BMI, education, physical activity, HRT |
| Benetou et al, 2008w12 (EPIC) | Greece | 851/25 623 | Incident cancers (excluding non-melanoma skin cancers) | 7.9 | 20-86 | M/F | 1. High legumes; 2. High cereals; 3. High fruits/nuts; 4. High vegetables; 5. High fish; 6. High MUFA:SFA ratio; 7. Moderate alcohol; 8. Low meat and poultry; 9. Low dairy products | Age; sex; smoking habit; years of education; BMI; height; physical activity; total energy; consumption of potatoes, eggs, confectionery, and non-alcoholic beverages |
ApoE=apolipoprotein E; BMI=body mass index; CHD=coronary heart disease; CVD=cardiovascular disease; HRT=hormone replacement therapy; MUFA=mono-unsaturated fatty acids; NSAIDs=non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; PUFA=polyunsaturated fatty acids; SFA=saturated fatty acids.