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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2014 Sep 8.
Published in final edited form as: Ann Intern Med. 2013 Nov 19;159(10):649–659. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-159-10-201311190-00719

Table 3. Hazard ratios (95% confidence interval) for incident cardiovascular endpoints (fatal and non-fatal) by urine arsenic* concentrations (μg/g creatinine) (N=3,575).

Quartiles of inorganic plus methylated arsenic species (μg/g creatinine)** 75th vs. 25th percentile*** p-trend***

<5.8 (4.2) 5.8 - 9.7 (7.5) 9.8 - 15.7 (12.4) >15.7 (21.8)
Cardiovascular Disease Incidence
Cases 265 297 291 331 1,184
Person-Years 12,146 11,701 11,305 10,586 45,738
 Model 1 1 (Referent) 1.11 (0.94, 1.32) 1.04 (0.87, 1.25) 1.30 (1.08, 1.56) 1.15 (1.04, 1.26) 0.004
 Model 2 1 (Referent) 1.14 (0.95, 1.35) 1.05 (0.87, 1.26) 1.32 (1.09, 1.59) 1.16 (1.05, 1.28) 0.002
 Model 3 1 (Referent) 1.13 (0.95, 1.34) 1.02 (0.84, 1.23) 1.24 (1.02, 1.50) 1.14 (1.03, 1.26) 0.008
 Model 4 1 (Referent) 1.11 (0.93, 1.32) 0.97 (0.80, 1.17) 1.09 (0.90, 1.33) 1.07 (0.97, 1.18) 0.168
Coronary Heart Disease Incidence
Cases 202 206 197 241 846
Person-Years 12,447 12,136 11,805 11,075 47,463
 Model 1 1 (Referent) 0.98 (0.81, 1.20) 0.88 (0.71, 1.10) 1.18 (0.95, 1.46) 1.11 (1.00, 1.25) 0.058
 Model 2 1 (Referent) 1.05 (0.86, 1.28) 0.95 (0.77, 1.19) 1.30 (1.04, 1.62) 1.17 (1.05, 1.32) 0.006
 Model 3 1 (Referent) 1.04 (0.85, 1.28) 0.93 (0.74, 1.15) 1.21 (0.97, 1.52) 1.16 (1.03, 1.30) 0.016
 Model 4 1 (Referent) 1.03 (0.84, 1.26) 0.88 (0.70, 1.10) 1.08 (0.86, 1.35) 1.09 (0.97, 1.23) 0.155
Stroke Incidence
Cases 55 75 62 72 264
Person-Years 13,375 13,117 12,435 11,741 50,667
 Model 1 1 (Referent) 1.11 (0.78, 1.59) 1.25 (0.84, 1.85) 1.64 (1.10, 2.44) 1.32 (1.09, 1.60) 0.005
 Model 2 1 (Referent) 1.18 (0.82, 1.69) 1.16 (0.77, 1.72) 1.47 (0.97, 2.21) 1.24 (1.02, 1.52) 0.032
 Model 3 1 (Referent) 1.16 (0.81, 1.66) 1.11 (0.74, 1.66) 1.32 (0.87, 2.00) 1.21 (0.98, 1.48) 0.074
 Model 4 1 (Referent) 1.09 (0.76, 1.57) 1.07 (0.72, 1.60) 1.18 (0.77, 1.79) 1.14 (0.93, 1.41) 0.21

Model 1: Stratified by study center and age-adjusted (age as time metric, age at baseline treated as staggered entries).

Model 2: Further adjusted for sex, education (no, some, or completed high school), smoking status (never, former, current), body mass index (kg/m2), and LDL cholesterol (mg/dL).

Model 3: Further adjusted for hypertension (yes, no), diabetes (yes, no), and estimated glomerular filtration rate (ml/min/1.73m2).

Model 4: Further adjusted for albuminuria (yes, no).

Adjustment for systolic blood pressure and hypertension medication instead of hypertension and hemoglobin A1c levels instead of diabetes resulted in similar results (data not shown).

*

Sum of inorganic and methylated arsenic species (DMA and MMA).

**

Range (median) of each quartile.

***

Models comparing the 75th to the 25th percentile (interquartile range) of the sum of inorganic and methylated urine arsenic concentrations (15.7 vs. 5.8 μg/g creatinine). p-trend was obtained from Cox proportional hazards models with log-transformed arsenic as a continuous variable.