Table 1.
Age-standardized characteristics 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 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| <0.15 g/day | 0.15-0.24 g/day | 0.25-0.34 g/day | ≥0.35 g/day | <0.15 g/day | 0.15-0.24 g/day | 0.25-0.34 g/day | ≥0.35 g/day | |
| No. of participants | 35,176 | 17,461 | 12,895 | 11,716 | 14,691 | 10,444 | 9,288 | 13,501 |
| Intake of marine ω-3 PUFAs, g/d | 0.08 | 0.19 | 0.29 | 0.62 | 0.08 | 0.20 | 0.29 | 0.68 |
| Age, years | 62.1 | 60.3 | 60.7 | 62.2 | 61.8 | 61.8 | 62.2 | 63.8 |
| Body mass index, kg/m2 | 26.2 | 26.1 | 26.0 | 26.2 | 25.8 | 25.7 | 25.7 | 25.6 |
| Physical activity, MET-hours/wk† | 15.1 | 17.7 | 19.0 | 20.9 | 31.7 | 33.4 | 35.0 | 37.3 |
| Pack-years of smoking before age 30 | 6.9 | 6.9 | 7.0 | 7.1 | 11.3 | 11.0 | 10.8 | 10.9 |
| Current smoking, % | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 |
| Colorectal cancer in a parent or sibling, % | 17 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 |
| History of previous endoscopy, % | 25 | 26 | 28 | 30 | 23 | 25 | 27 | 29 |
| Current multivitamin use, % | 52 | 54 | 55 | 60 | 48 | 49 | 51 | 56 |
| Regular aspirin or NSAID use, %‡ | 52 | 52 | 51 | 53 | 50 | 50 | 51 | 52 |
| Postmenopausal, % | 81 | 81 | 82 | 82 | ||||
| Current hormone use, %§ | 51 | 52 | 51 | 46 | ||||
| Dietary intake | ||||||||
| ω-3 PUFAs, g/d | 1.08 | 1.21 | 1.32 | 1.72 | 1.22 | 1.35 | 1.46 | 1.92 |
| 18:3ω-3 (ALA), g/d | 0.96 | 0.97 | 0.98 | 1.07 | 1.13 | 1.13 | 1.14 | 1.20 |
| 20:5ω-3 (EPA), mg/d | 21 | 58 | 92 | 235 | 21 | 59 | 94 | 257 |
| 22:5ω-3 (DPA), mg/d | 12 | 18 | 23 | 33 | 13 | 20 | 25 | 40 |
| 22:6ω-3 (DHA), mg/d | 49 | 117 | 175 | 349 | 49 | 118 | 174 | 381 |
| ω-6 PUFAs, g/d | 9.03 | 8.94 | 8.83 | 9.07 | 12.2 | 12.0 | 11.8 | 11.8 |
| Fish, servings/week | 0.8 | 1.8 | 2.4 | 3.7 | 0.7 | 1.6 | 2.1 | 3.9 |
| Total red meat, servings/week | 5.4 | 5.3 | 4.8 | 4.0 | 7.1 | 7.1 | 6.2 | 4.9 |
| Alcohol, g/d | 4.8 | 6.3 | 6.6 | 6.1 | 10.4 | 12.4 | 12.5 | 11.3 |
| Folate, μg/d | 526 | 532 | 558 | 631 | 580 | 588 | 616 | 713 |
| Calcium, mg/d | 1,157 | 1,163 | 1,202 | 1,303 | 983 | 968 | 973 | 1,039 |
| Vitamin D, IU/d | 378 | 408 | 457 | 566 | 370 | 404 | 444 | 580 |
| Total fiber, g/d | 18.1 | 18.8 | 19.5 | 20.4 | 21.7 | 22.2 | 23.0 | 24.7 |
| AHEI score | 44.6 | 46.5 | 48.5 | 51.6 | 38.7 | 41.5 | 43.1 | 46.8 |
Abbreviations: AHEI, Alternative Healthy Eating Index; ALA, α-linolenic acid; DHA, docosahexaenoic acid; DPA, docosapentaenoic acid; EPA, eicosapentaenoic acid; NSAID, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug; PUFA, polyunsaturated fatty acid.
Updated information throughout follow-up was used to calculate the mean for continuous variables and percentage for categorical variables. All variables are age-standardized except age.
Physical activity is represented by the product sum of the metabolic equivalent (MET) of each specific recreational activity and hours spent on that activity per week.
Regular users are defined as ≥2 standard (325-mg) tablets of aspirin or ≥ 2 tablets of NSAIDs per week.
Proportion of current menopausal hormone use is calculated among postmenopausal women only.