Table 2.
Overall and cause-specific mortality according to red and processed meat intake in multivariable-adjusted analyses, NLCS
| Quintile of intake | P trend | Continuous, per 50 g/d | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 (ref) | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Q5 | ||||
| Red meat (nonprocessed) | ||||||||
| Median intake (g/day) | 41.3 | 66.9 | 84.3 | 101.4 | 140.4 | |||
| Person-years in subcohort | 6077 | 6014 | 6220 | 6034 | 5975 | 30,320 | ||
| Total mortality | ||||||||
| No. of deaths | 1622 | 1708 | 1678 | 1971 | 1844 | 8823 | ||
| Age–sex-adjusted HR (95% CI) | 1 | 1.04 (0.90–1.21) | 0.96 (0.83–1.11) | 1.10 (0.95–1.28) | 1.06 (0.92–1.23) | 0.323 | 1.04 (0.98–1.10) | |
| Multivariable-adjusted HR (95% CI) | 1 | 1.02 (0.87–1.21) | 0.92 (0.79–1.09) | 1.07 (0.91–1.26) | 1.02 (0.86–1.20) | 0.709 | 1.03 (0.97–1.10) | |
| Stable meat users, no. of deaths | 955 | 1213 | 1296 | 1563 | 1492 | 6519 | ||
| Multivariable-adjusted HR (95% CI) | 1 | 0.93 (0.76–1.15) | 0.86 (0.70–1.05) | 1.01 (0.83–1.23) | 0.92 (0.75–1.12) | 0.710 | 1.01 (0.93–1.09) | |
| Cancer mortality | ||||||||
| No. of deaths | 693 | 710 | 757 | 930 | 827 | 3917 | ||
| Age–sex-adjusted HR (95% CI) | 1 | 1.02 (0.86–1.20) | 1.02 (0.87–1.19) | 1.23 (1.05–1.44) | 1.12 (0.95–1.31) | 0.049 | 1.07 (1.01–1.14) | |
| Multivariable-adjusted HR (95% CI) | 1 | 1.00 (0.84–1.20) | 0.97 (0.82–1.15) | 1.17 (0.99–1.39) | 1.02 (0.85–1.21) | 0.518 | 1.04 (0.97–1.11) | |
| Cardiovascular disease mortality | ||||||||
| No. of deaths | 562 | 610 | 574 | 630 | 609 | 2985 | ||
| Age–sex-adjusted HR (95% CI) | 1 | 1.07 (0.89–1.28) | 0.94 (0.79–1.12) | 1.00 (0.84–1.20) | 1.00 (0.84–1.20) | 0.820 | 1.01 (0.94–1.09) | |
| Multivariable-adjusted HR (95% CI) | 1 | 1.02 (0.83–1.25) | 0.88 (0.72–1.08) | 0.96 (0.79–1.18) | 0.95 (0.77–1.17) | 0.584 | 1.00 (0.92–1.08) | |
| Respiratory mortality | ||||||||
| No. of deaths | 109 | 107 | 98 | 123 | 113 | 550 | ||
| Age–sex-adjusted HR (95% CI) | 1 | 0.96 (0.70–1.31) | 0.81 (0.59–1.11) | 0.97 (0.72–1.31) | 0.93 (0.69–1.27) | 0.759 | 1.01 (0.89–1.14) | |
| Multivariable-adjusted HR (95% CI) | 1 | 1.20 (0.81–1.78) | 1.04 (0.71–1.53) | 1.20 (0.84–1.72) | 1.23 (0.84–1.80) | 0.318 | 1.13 (0.97–1.31) | |
| Processed meat | ||||||||
| Median intake (g/day) | 0 | 4.3 | 9.1 | 16.0 | 30.8 | |||
| Person-years in subcohort | 5918 | 6171 | 5977 | 6095 | 6159 | 30,320 | ||
| Total mortality | ||||||||
| No. of deaths | 1581 | 1724 | 1589 | 1871 | 2058 | 8823 | ||
| Age–sex-adjusted HR (95% CI) | 1 | 1.09 (0.94–1.27) | 1.01 (0.87–1.17) | 1.16 (1.00–1.34) | 1.18 (1.02–1.37) | 0.022 | 1.11 (0.95–1.29) | |
| Multivariable-adjusted HR (95% CI) | 1 | 1.16 (0.99–1.37) | 1.06 (0.89–1.25) | 1.24 (1.05–1.46) | 1.21 (1.02–1.44) | 0.049 | 1.12 (0.94–1.34) | |
| Stable meat users, no. of deaths | 1035 | 1200 | 1178 | 1434 | 1672 | 6519 | ||
| Multivariable-adjusted HR (95% CI) | 1 | 1.12 (0.92–1.37) | 1.00 (0.81–1.22) | 1.21 (0.99–1.47) | 1.22 (0.99–1.50) | 0.045 | 1.14 (0.94–1.39) | |
| Cancer mortality | ||||||||
| No. of deaths | 699 | 807 | 692 | 796 | 923 | 3917 | ||
| Age–sex-adjusted HR (95% CI) | 1 | 1.14 (0.97–1.34) | 0.98 (0.83–1.16) | 1.10 (0.93–1.29) | 1.18 (1.01–1.39) | 0.065 | 1.03 (0.88–1.22) | |
| Multivariable-adjusted HR (95% CI) | 1 | 1.14 (0.96–1.35) | 0.97 (0.81–1.16) | 1.10 (0.92–1.30) | 1.16 (0.97–1.39) | 0.154 | 1.00 (0.83–1.20) | |
| Cardiovascular disease mortality | ||||||||
| No. of deaths | 525 | 554 | 559 | 661 | 686 | 2985 | ||
| Age–sex-adjusted HR (95% CI) | 1 | 1.07 (0.89–1.29) | 1.08 (0.90–1.30) | 1.24 (1.03–1.49) | 1.19 (0.99–1.43) | 0.039 | 1.17 (0.98–1.40) | |
| Multivariable-adjusted HR (95% CI) | 1 | 1.16 (0.95–1.43) | 1.15 (0.93–1.42) | 1.38 (1.12–1.71) | 1.26 (1.01–1.56) | 0.047 | 1.24 (1.01–1.53) | |
| Respiratory mortality | ||||||||
| No. of deaths | 91 | 94 | 97 | 126 | 142 | 550 | ||
| Age–sex-adjusted HR (95% CI) | 1 | 1.07 (0.77–1.48) | 1.10 (0.79–1.53) | 1.37 (1.00–1.89) | 1.42 (1.04–1.93) | 0.009 | 1.26 (0.98–1.63) | |
| Multivariable-adjusted HR (95% CI) | 1 | 1.44 (0.98–2.13) | 1.39 (0.94–2.06) | 1.80 (1.24–2.62) | 1.79 (1.19–2.67) | 0.007 | 1.58 (1.14–2.19) | |
Multivariable analyses were adjusted for: age at baseline (continuous, in years), sex, cigarette smoking status (coded as never, former, current smoker), number of cigarettes smoked per day, and years of smoking (both continuous, centered), history of physician-diagnosed hypertension (no, yes) and diabetes (no, yes), body height (continuous, m), BMI (< 18.5, 18.5 to < 25, 25 to < 30, ≥ 30 kg/m2), non-occupational physical activity (< 30, 30–60, 61–90, ≥ 90 min/day), highest level of education (primary school or lower vocational, secondary or medium vocational, and higher vocational or university), intake of alcohol (0, 0.1 to < 5, 5 to < 15, 15 to < 30, 30 + g/day), vegetables and fruit (both continuous, g/day), energy (continuous, kcal/day), use of nutritional supplements (no, yes), and, in women, postmenopausal HRT (never, ever)