Table 1.
Age-standardized characteristics of person-years according to intake of marine ω-3 PUFAs in the Nurses’ Health Study (women, 1984–2010) and Health Professionals Follow-up Study (men, 1986–2010)*
| Characteristic | Women | Men | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| <0.10g/d | 0.10–0.19g/d | 0.20–0.29g/d | ≥0.30g/d | <0.10g/d | 0.10–0.19g/d | 0.20–0.29g/d | ≥0.30g/d | |
| Person-years | 230,847 | 229,354 | 146,130 | 201,784 | 75,740 | 81,886 | 76,234 | 172,820 |
| Intake of marine ω-3 PUFAs, g/d | 0.06 | 0.14 | 0.24 | 0.55 | 0.06 | 0.14 | 0.25 | 0.60 |
| Age, y | 63.6 | 59.7 | 60.8 | 61.8 | 62.3 | 61.2 | 62.2 | 63.5 |
| Body mass index, kg/m2 | 26.1 | 26.2 | 26.0 | 26.1 | 25.7 | 25.8 | 25.6 | 25.6 |
| Physical activity, MET-hours/wk† | 14.9 | 16.3 | 18.4 | 20.5 | 31.9 | 31.5 | 35.1 | 36.8 |
| Pack-years of smoking before age 30 y | 7.0 | 6.9 | 6.9 | 7.1 | 11.4 | 11.0 | 10.9 | 10.9 |
| Current smoking, % | 14 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 4 |
| Colorectal cancer in a parent or sibling, % | 17 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 |
| History of colonoscopy/sigmoidoscopy, % | 21 | 20 | 22 | 24 | 23 | 24 | 26 | 29 |
| Current multivitamin use, % | 53 | 51 | 55 | 59 | 48 | 48 | 50 | 55 |
| Current use of fish oil supplements, % | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 18 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 13 |
| Regular aspirin or NSAID use, %‡ | 53 | 52 | 52 | 52 | 49 | 50 | 50 | 51 |
| Postmenopausal, % | 81 | 81 | 81 | 82 | - | - | - | - |
| Current postmenopausal hormone use, %§ | 51 | 52 | 51 | 47 | - | - | - | - |
| Dietary intake | ||||||||
| ω-3 PUFAs, g/d | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.8 |
| 18:3ω-3 (ALA), g/d | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.2 |
| 20:5ω-3 (EPA), mg/d | 15.0 | 38.3 | 76.2 | 203 | 15.0 | 37.9 | 80.3 | 225 |
| 22:5ω-3 (DPA), mg/d | 11.6 | 15.5 | 21.1 | 31.3 | 12.2 | 16.8 | 22.7 | 37.2 |
| 22:6ω-3 (DHA), mg/d | 34.1 | 86.9 | 146 | 312 | 33.3 | 88.0 | 147 | 341 |
| ω-6 PUFAs, g/d | 9.1 | 9.0 | 8.9 | 9.0 | 12.2 | 12.1 | 11.9 | 11.8 |
| Fish, servings/wk | 0.6 | 1.4 | 2.1 | 3.4 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 1.8 | 3.6 |
| Unprocessed red meat, servings/wk | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.5 | 2.9 | 4.5 | 4.4 | 4.3 | 3.3 |
| Processed red meat, servings/wk | 1.7 | 1.8 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 2.4 | 2.6 | 2.4 | 1.7 |
| Poultry, servings/wk | 2.2 | 2.6 | 2.8 | 3.0 | 2.3 | 2.8 | 3.0 | 3.4 |
| Total fruit, servings/d | 2.2 | 2.3 | 2.6 | 2.5 | 2.3 | 2.4 | 2.7 | 2.8 |
| Total vegetable, servings/d | 2.7 | 3.1 | 3.4 | 3.6 | 2.8 | 3.1 | 3.5 | 3.8 |
| Alcohol, g/d | 4.6 | 5.6 | 6.7 | 6.2 | 10.1 | 11.3 | 12.9 | 11.4 |
| DASH diet score | 22.6 | 23.4 | 24.4 | 25.4 | 22.5 | 23.0 | 24.2 | 25.2 |
* All variables are age standardized except age. Continuous variables are described as mean. ALA = α-linolenic acid; DASH = Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension; DHA = docosahexaenoic acid; DPA = docosapentaenoic acid; EPA = eicosapentaenoic acid; MET = metabolic equivalent; NSAID = nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug; PUFA = polyunsaturated fatty acid.
† Physical activity is represented by the product sum of the MET of each specific recreational activity and hours spent on that activity per week.
‡ Regular users are defined as two or more standard (325mg) tablets of aspirin or two or more tablets of NSAIDs per week.
§ Proportion of current postmenopausal hormone use is calculated among postmenopausal women only.