TABLE 4.

HRs and 95% CIs for all-cause mortality by meat intake, stratified by educational level¹

	Education
	Low	Middle	High
Men
No. of deaths	5477	3102	1126
Total meat
Q1	1.00 (ref)	1.00 (ref)	1.00 (ref)
Q2	0.98 (0.84, 1.14)	0.97 (0.86, 1.08)	0.97 (0.81, 1.16)
Q3	1.07 (0.93, 1.22)	0.83 (0.68, 1.00)	1.10 (0.88, 1.37)
Q4	1.05 (0.86, 1.30)*	1.07 (0.89, 1.28)	1.10 (0.86, 1.40)
P-trend	0.45	0.91	0.33
Red meat
Q1	1.00 (ref)	1.00 (ref)	1.00 (ref)
Q2	0.95 (0.86, 1.04)	0.96 (0.87, 1.07)	1.06 (0.90, 1.26)
Q3	0.91 (0.80, 1.04)	0.83 (0.68, 1.03)	0.87 (0.72, 1.05)
Q4	0.97 (0.85, 1.11)	0.94 (0.78, 1.14)*	0.93 (0.69, 1.26)
P-trend	0.59	0.29	0.38
Poultry
T1	1.00 (ref)	1.00 (ref)	1.00 (ref)
T2	0.88 (0.79, 0.99)	0.89 (0.79, 1.00)	0.77 (0.63, 0.94)
T3	0.94 (0.84, 1.04)	0.97 (0.86, 1.10)	0.89 (0.74, 1.08)
P-trend	0.22	0.64	0.24
Fish
Q1	1.00 (ref)	1.00 (ref)	1.00 (ref)
Q2	0.99 (0.87, 1.13)	0.98 (0.82, 1.17)	1.14 (0.86, 1.50)
Q3	1.02 (0.89, 1.16)	0.97 (0.82, 1.16)	1.14 (0.82, 1.60)*
Q4	1.11 (0.97, 1.28)	1.01 (0.81, 1.26)	1.21 (0.89, 1.64)
P-trend	0.19	0.95	0.17
Women
No. of deaths	4663	1928	985
Total meat
Q1	1.00 (ref)	1.00 (ref)	1.00 (ref)
Q2	0.89 (0.80, 0.98)	0.84 (0.71, 1.00)	1.03 (0.84, 1.26)
Q3	0.97 (0.85, 1.11)	0.86 (0.71, 1.04)	1.11 (0.90, 1.38)
Q4	0.98 (0.88, 1.10)	0.88 (0.73, 1.06)	1.09 (0.88, 1.37)
P-trend	0.85	0.26	0.36
Red meat
Q1	1.00 (ref)	1.00 (ref)	1.00 (ref)
Q2	0.89 (0.81, 0.97)	0.88 (0.76, 1.02)	1.13 (0.92, 1.37)
Q3	0.84 (0.76, 0.93)	0.87 (0.73, 1.03)	1.07 (0.87, 1.31)
Q4	0.95 (0.84, 1.07)	0.84 (0.69, 1.01)	1.11 (0.90, 1.38)
P-trend	0.29	0.09	0.44
Poultry
T1	1.00 (ref)	1.00 (ref)	1.00 (ref)
T2	0.92 (0.84, 1.01)	0.82 (0.70, 0.96)	0.97 (0.79, 1.21)
T3	0.94 (0.86, 1.04)	0.88 (0.73, 1.08)	1.06 (0.87, 1.30)
P-trend	0.26	0.22	0.55
Fish
Q1	1.00 (ref)	1.00 (ref)	1.00 (ref)
Q2	0.90 (0.82, 0.98)	0.81 (0.65, 1.01)	1.06 (0.87, 1.30)
Q3	0.89 (0.70, 1.12)*	0.84 (0.71, 1.00)	1.07 (0.88, 1.31)
Q4	0.98 (0.88, 1.08)	0.89 (0.70, 1.12)	0.96 (0.77, 1.19)
P-trend	0.68	0.35	0.98

¹Values were adjusted for age, BMI, smoking habit, rural/urban residence, alcohol intake, fruit and vegetable intake, and total energy intake. Educational levels were categorized into: less than secondary; secondary; and more than secondary school. Japan Public Health Center-Based Prospective Study 2 and Health Effects of Arsenic Longitudinal Study were excluded from these analyses because educational level was not available. *P value for homogeneity across studies rejected at α < 0.05. Q, quartile; ref, reference; T, tertile.