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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2018 Dec 7.
Published in final edited form as: Heart. 2015 Jun 15;101(16):1279–1287. doi: 10.1136/heartjnl-2014-307050

Table 4. Study design, participants, follow up and outcomes for studies evaluating chocolate consumption and cardiovascular disease.

Study ID Dietary exposures Study design No in analysis Characteristics Follow-up (years) Outcome measures Measures of association
Buijsse 2006 Cocoa intake Prospective Cohort, Netherlands 470 White men with mean age 72 years. 15 Cardiovascular mortality at 15 years Relative risk: 0.50 (0.32-0.78) for >2.25g/day vs. <0.5 g/day. (top vs. bottom tertile)
Buijsse 2010 Chocolate consumption Prospective Cohort, Potsdam, Germany 19357 Men and women with mean age of 49 years, 38% were men and no history of myocardial infarction and stroke and not using blood pressure drugs. 10 Incident Myocardial infarction, stroke and composite of both at mean of 8.1 years follow-up Relative risk: myocardial infarction 0.73 (0.47-1.18), stroke 0.52 (0.30-0.89), composite 0.61 (0.44-0.87) for 4th quartile vs. 1st quartile energy-adjusted chocolate consumption.
Djousse 2011 Chocolate consumption Cross-sectional, United States 4970 Men and women with mean age of 52 years (range 25-93 years), 45% were men and 5% were of African-American origin. NA Prevalent Coronary heart disease (myocardial infarction or coronary revascularization) Odds ratio: 0.43 (0.27-0.68) for >5 times a week vs. no consumption. (based on some degree of post-hoc categorization of collected data)
Janszky 2009 Chocolate consumption Prospective Cohort. Sweden 1169 Men (71%) and women who survived an acute myocardial infarction with mean age of 59 years. 8 Cardiovascular mortality, recurrent myocardial infarction, stroke and congestive heart failure Hazard ratio: CV mortality 0.34 (0.17-0.70), recurrent MI 0.86 (0.54-1.37), stroke 0.62 (0.33-1.16) for <2X week vs. never. (based on some degree of post-hoc categorization of collected data)
Larsson 2011 Chocolate consumption Prospective Cohort, Sweden 33372 Women with no history of stroke, age range 49-83 years. 10.4 Incident Stroke Relative risk: 0.80 (0.66-0.99) >45 g/week vs. <8.9 g/week. (top vs. bottom quartile)
Larsson 2012 Chocolate consumption Prospective Cohort, Sweden 37103 Men with mean age mean of 59 years and no history of stroke. 10.2 Incident Stroke Relative risk: 0.83 (0.70-0.99) for >51.6 g/week vs. <12 g/week (top vs. bottom quartile)
Lewis 2010 Chocolate consumption Post-hoc analysis of a randomized trial of calcium supplementation in women, Australia 1216 Women, mean age 75 years 9.5 Atherosclerotic vascular disease and ischemic heart disease Hazard ratio: Ischemic heart disease 0.65 (0.46-0.94) for <1 serving/week vs. >1 serving/week (based on some degree of post-hoc categorization of collected data)
Mink 2007 Chocolate consumption Prospective Cohort, USA. 34489 Women with mean age 62 years with no history of heart disease. 16 Coronary heart disease mortality and stroke mortality Rate ratio: CHD mortality 0.98 (0.88-1.10), stroke mortality 0.85 (0.70-1.03) for <1 per week vs. > 1 per week (based on some degree of post-hoc categorization of collected data)
Current study Chocolate consumption Cohort 25663 55% women. 99.6% white Caucasians), mean age 59 years with no history of heart disease or stroke. 11.8 Incident coronary heart disease, stroke and composite of the two, defined as cardiovascular disease. Hazard ratio: CHD 0.88 (0.77-1.01), stroke 0.77 (0.62-0.96), CVD 0.86 (0.76-0.97).(top quintile vs. bottom quintile)