Table 2.
Hazard ratios of total, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality according to fifths of total dairy intake in the Nurses’ Health Study, Nurses’ Health Study II, and Health Professionals Follow-up Study
| Frequency of dairy consumption* | Hazard ratio (95% CI)† | P for trend | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Q5 | |||
| Total mortality | |||||||
| Nurses’ Health Study | |||||||
| No of deaths | 4755 | 5021 | 5024 | 5347 | 5035 | — | — |
| Age adjusted | 1.00 | 0.90 (0.87 to 0.94) | 0.86 (0.83 to 0.90) | 0.88 (0.84 to 0.91) | 0.94 (0.91 to 0.98) | 0.99 (0.97 to 1.00) | 0.07 |
| Multivariate adjusted‡ | 1.00 | 0.99 (0.95 to 1.03) | 0.98 (0.94 to 1.02) | 1.02 (0.97 to 1.06) | 1.08 (1.03 to 1.13) | 1.03 (1.02 to 1.05) | <0.001 |
| Nurses’ Health Study II | |||||||
| No of deaths | 624 | 521 | 549 | 484 | 518 | ||
| Age adjusted | 1.00 | 0.84 (0.75 to 0.95) | 0.93 (0.83 to 1.05) | 0.90 (0.80 to 1.02) | 1.12 (1.00 to 1.26) | 1.03 (1.01 to 1.06) | 0.008 |
| Multivariate adjusted‡ | 1.00 | 0.96 (0.85 to 1.07) | 1.02 (0.91 to 1.15) | 1.02 (0.90 to 1.15) | 1.16 (1.02 to 1.32) | 1.04 (1.01 to 1.06) | 0.01 |
| Health Professionals Follow-up Study | |||||||
| No of deaths | 3969 | 4260 | 4806 | 5264 | 5261 | — | — |
| Age adjusted | 1.00 | 0.96 (0.92 to 1.00) | 0.97 (0.93 to 1.01) | 0.99 (0.95 to 1.03) | 1.03 (0.99 to 1.07) | 1.02 (1.01 to 1.03) | 0.005 |
| Multivariate adjusted‡ | 1.00 | 0.98 (0.94 to 1.03) | 1.02 (0.97 to 1.06) | 1.03 (0.98 to 1.07) | 1.05 (1.00 to 1.10) | 1.02 (1.01 to 1.03) | 0.006 |
| Pooled analysis | |||||||
| Age adjusted | 1.00 | 0.92 (0.90 to 0.95) | 0.91 (0.89 to 0.94) | 0.93 (0.90 to 0.95) | 0.99 (0.96 to 1.02) | 1.01 (1.00 to 1.02) | 0.10 |
| Multivariate adjusted‡ | 1.00 | 0.98 (0.96 to 1.01) | 1.00 (0.97 to 1.03) | 1.02 (0.99 to 1.05) | 1.07 (1.04 to 1.10) | 1.03 (1.02 to 1.04) | <0.001 |
| Cardiovascular mortality | |||||||
| Nurses’ Health Study | |||||||
| No of deaths | 902 | 896 | 842 | 885 | 893 | — | — |
| Age adjusted | 1.00 | 0.86 (0.79 to 0.95) | 0.78 (0.71 to 0.86) | 0.78 (0.71 to 0.86) | 0.88 (0.80 to 0.96) | 0.96 (0.93 to 0.99) | 0.01 |
| Multivariate adjusted‡ | 1.00 | 0.97 (0.88 to 1.06) | 0.91 (0.82 to 1.00) | 0.94 (0.85 to 1.04) | 1.04 (0.94 to 1.16) | 1.02 (0.98 to 1.05) | 0.34 |
| Nurses’ Health Study II | |||||||
| No of deaths | 59 | 46 | 47 | 52 | 54 | — | — |
| Age adjusted | 1.00 | 0.79 (0.54 to 1.17) | 0.85 (0.58 to 1.24) | 1.01 (0.69 to 1.47) | 1.18 (0.81 to 1.71) | 1.06 (0.98 to 1.15) | 0.15 |
| Multivariate adjusted‡ | 1.00 | 0.88 (0.61 to 1.27) | 0.93 (0.63 to 1.37) | 1.01 (0.67 to 1.51) | 1.22 (0.81 to 1.83) | 1.06 (0.97 to 1.15) | 0.22 |
| Health Professionals Follow-up Study | |||||||
| No of deaths | 1293 | 1358 | 1565 | 1616 | 1635 | — | — |
| Age adjusted | 1.00 | 0.95 (0.88 to 1.02) | 0.98 (0.91 to 1.05) | 0.93 (0.87 to 1.01) | 0.96 (0.89 to 1.03) | 0.99 (0.97 to 1.01) | 0.38 |
| Multivariate adjusted‡ | 1.00 | 0.97 (0.90 to 1.05) | 1.01 (0.94 to 1.09) | 0.96 (0.89 to 1.04) | 0.99 (0.91 to 1.08) | 1.00 (0.97 to 1.02) | 0.88 |
| Pooled analysis | |||||||
| Age adjusted | 1.00 | 0.91 (0.86 to 0.96) | 0.89 (0.84 to 0.95) | 0.88 (0.83 to 0.93) | 0.93 (0.88 to 0.99) | 0.98 (0.97 to 1.00) | 0.08 |
| Multivariate adjusted‡ | 1.00 | 0.97 (0.91 to 1.03) | 0.97 (0.92 to 1.03) | 0.96 (0.90 to 1.02) | 1.02 (0.95 to 1.08) | 1.00 (0.99 to 1.03) | 0.49 |
| Cancer mortality | |||||||
| Nurses’ Health Study | |||||||
| No of deaths | 1557 | 1497 | 1514 | 1579 | 1494 | — | — |
| Age adjusted | 1.00 | 0.86 (0.80 to 0.93) | 0.84 (0.78 to 0.90) | 0.85 (0.79 to 0.91) | 0.88 (0.82 to 0.94) | 0.97 (0.94 to 0.99) | 0.004 |
| Multivariate adjusted‡ | 1.00 | 0.95 (0.88 to 1.02) | 0.96 (0.90 to 1.04) | 0.99 (0.92 to 1.07) | 1.02 (0.94 to 1.10) | 1.02 (0.99 to 1.04) | 0.29 |
| Nurses’ Health Study II | |||||||
| No of deaths | 253 | 221 | 248 | 208 | 227 | — | — |
| Age adjusted | 1.00 | 0.88 (0.74 to 1.06) | 1.03 (0.87 to 1.23) | 0.94 (0.79 to 1.14) | 1.20 (1.00 to 1.43) | 1.05 (1.01 to 1.09) | 0.02 |
| Multivariate adjusted‡ | 1.00 | 0.86 (0.71 to 1.03) | 1.06 (0.89 to 1.27) | 1.04 (0.86 to 1.26) | 1.20 (0.98 to 1.47) | 1.06 (1.01 to 1.10) | 0.01 |
| Health Professionals Follow-up Study | |||||||
| No of deaths | 1115 | 1140 | 1262 | 1424 | 1381 | — | — |
| Age adjusted | 1.00 | 0.95 (0.88 to 1.03) | 0.98 (0.90 to 1.06) | 1.05 (0.97 to 1.13) | 1.04 (0.96 to 1.13) | 1.03 (1.00 to 1.05) | 0.04 |
| Multivariate adjusted‡ | 1.00 | 0.97 (0.89 to 1.05) | 1.02 (0.94 to 1.11) | 1.09 (1.00 to 1.18) | 1.06 (0.97 to 1.15) | 1.03 (1.00 to 1.06) | 0.05 |
| Pooled analysis | |||||||
| Age adjusted | 1.00 | 0.90 (0.85 to 0.95) | 0.91 (0.86 to 0.96) | 0.93 (0.89 to 0.98) | 0.96 (0.92 to 1.01) | 1.00 (0.99 to 1.02) | 0.66 |
| Multivariate adjusted‡ | 1.00 | 0.95 (0.90 to 1.00) | 1.00 (0.94 to 1.05) | 1.04 (0.98 to 1.09) | 1.05 (0.99 to 1.11) | 1.03 (1.01 to 1.05) | 0.003 |
Mean dairy intake for each fifth is: 0.8 servings/day for Q1, 1.5 servings/day for Q2, 2.0 servings/day for Q3, 2.8 servings/day for Q4, and 4.2 servings/day for Q5.
Per increment of 1 serving/day of dairy.
Multivariable adjusted model was further adjusted for family history of cancer (yes, no), family history of cardiovascular disease (yes, no), baseline disease status (hypertension, hypercholesterolemia), baseline body mass index (<20.9, 21.0-22.9, 23.0-24.9, 25.0-29.9, 30.0-34.9, ≥35.0), physical activity (<3.0, 3.0-8.9, 9.0-17.9, 18.0-26.9, ≥27.0 metabolic equivalent hours per week), overall dietary pattern (alternate healthy eating index score, in fifths), total energy intake (fifths), smoking status (Nurses’ Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study: never, former (categorized into 1-4, 5-14, 15-24, 25-34, 35-44, ≥45 cigarettes/day, or unknown), current (categorized in to 1-4, 5-14, 15-24, 25-34, 35-44, ≥45 cigarettes/day, or unknown), alcohol consumption (0, ≥0-5, ≥5-10, ≥10-15, ≥15 g/day), postmenopausal status (yes, no; women only), and current postmenopausal hormone use (yes, no; women only).