Table 1. Characteristics of studies included in the meta-analysis.
| Author | Year | Design | Follow up period | N | Age (mean) | BAC prevalence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baum [13] | 1980 | CS | - | 319 | ? | 11.6% |
| Sickles [14] | 1985 | CS | - | 5000 | ? | 9.6% |
| Van Noord [15] | 1996 | CS | 12,239 | (57.7) | 9.0% | |
| Crystal [16] | 2000 | CS | - | 865 | (65/54 BAC+/-) | 17.6% |
| Cetin [17] | 2004 | CS | - | 2400 | 32–75 | 9.1% |
| Iribarren [18] | 2004 | Cohort | 25 years | 12,761 | 40–79 | 3.0% |
| Maas (I) [19] | 2006 | CS | - | 1699 | 49–70 | 11.4% |
| Taşkin [20] | 2006 | CC (BAC) | - | 985 | >40 | 7.9% |
| Dale (II) [21] | 2008 | CS | - | 1000 | 23–93 | 16.0% |
| Pidal [22] | 2009 | CC (BAC) | - | 136 | (57/55 BAC+/-) | 8.4% |
| Akinola [23] | 2011 | CS | - | 54 | (60/51 BAC+/-) | 20.0% |
| Sedighi [24] | 2011 | CC (BAC) | - | 204 | (60.6) | 14.7% |
| Schnatz [25] | 2011 | Cohort | 5 years | 1,454 | (56.3) | 14.2% |
| Friedlander [26] | 2012 | CS | - | 40 | (62.2) | 22.5% |
| Zafar [27] | 2013 | CS | - | 200 | (56/44 BAC+/-) | 13.5% |
| Kosovic [28] | 2015 | CC (BAC) | - | 300 | (62.0) | ? |
| Hanafi [29] | 2018 | CC (CAD) | - | 60 | (53/51 CAD+/-) | 60.0% |
| Soylu [30] | 2018 | CS | - | 404 | >40 | 30.4% |
| Bae [31] | 2013 | CC (BAC) | - | 201 | (58.9) | - |
| Matsumura [32] | 2013 | CC (BAC) | - | 202 | (60/58 BAC+/-) | - |
| Yagtu [33] | 2015 | CC (BAC) | - | 80 | 39–86 | ? |
| Margolies [34] | 2016 | CS | - | 292 | (61.5) | 42.5% |
| Moshyedi [35] | 1995 | CS | - | 182 | 39–92 | 24.2% |
| Henkin [36] | 2003 | CC (CAD) | - | 319 | (61.8) | 41.1% |
| Fiuza Ferreira [37] | 2007 | CS | - | 131 | (61.1) | 39.7% |
| Topal [38] | 2007 | CS | - | 123 | (64/52 BAC+/-) | 39.8% |
| Oliveira [39] | 2009 | CC (CAD) | - | 80 | (64.65) | - |
| Penugonda [40] | 2010 | CS | - | 94 | (66.7) | 60.6% |
| Zgheib [41] | 2010 | CC (CAD) | - | 172 | (64.3) | 33.1% |
| Hekimoğlu [42] | 2012 | CS | - | 55 | (63) | 41.8% |
| Moradi [43] | 2014 | CS | - | 150 | (68/54 BAC+/-) | 23.3% |
| Karm [44] | 2015 | CS | - | 198 | (65) | 41.4% |
| Chadashvilli [45] | 2016 | CS | - | 145 | (56/61 BAC+/-) | 25.5% |
| Fathala (I) [46] | 2017 | CS | - | 435 | (58) | 59% |
| Kelly [47] | 2018 | Cohort | 20.6 months | 104 | (58.93) | 14% |
| Ružičić [48] | 2018 | CS | - | 102 | (62) | 63.7% |
| McLenachan [49] | 2019 | CS | - | 405 | (58) | 23.0% |
| Population: post-menopausal | ||||||
| Kataoka [50] | 2006 | CS | - | 1590 | (63.2) | 16.0% |
| Yildiz (III) [51] | 2008 | CC (BAC) | - | 54 | (62.7) | 10.2% |
| Ferreira [52] | 2009 | CS | - | 307 | (55.3) | 8.5% |
| Nasser [53] | 2014 | CS | - | 211 | (62.1) | 18.0% |
| Atci [54] | 2015 | CC (BAC) | - | 567 | (65/55 BAC+/-) | 31.6% |
| Pecchi [55] | 2003 | CS | - | 74 | <65 | 59.5% |
| Yildiz (II) [56] | 2014 | CS | - | 310 | (55.9) | 33.9% |
| Parikh [57] | 2019 | CS | - | 3507 | 60–79 | 27.9% |
| Maas (II) [58] | 2004 | CS | - | 600 | (70/67 BAC+/-) | 23.0% |
| Population: diabetes | ||||||
| Schmitt [59] | 1985 | CC (DM) | - | 450 | 35–74 | 45.1% |
| Dale (I) [60] | 2010 | CC (DM) | - | 1609 | 24–93 | 36.5% |
| Sankaran [61] | 2019 | CC (BAC) | - | 100 | (59/51 BAC+/-) | ? |
| Population: chronic kidney disease | ||||||
| Abou Hassan [62] | 2015 | Cohort | 3.3 years | 202 | (61/ 54 BAC+/-) | 58.4% |
| Voyvoda [63] | 2019 | CS | - | 55 | (54.8) | 14.5% |
| Other | ||||||
| Wada [64] | 2012 | CC (breast cancer) | - | 3771 | (56/58 breast cancer +/-) | 9.9% (breast cancer) 14.3% (no breast cancer) |
| Soran [65] | 2014 | Cohort (breast cancer) | 7.5 years | 602 | (62/54 BAC+/-) | 26.7% |
| Mostafavi [66] | 2015 | CS | - | 100 | (65.3) | 12.0% |
| Yildiz (IV) [67] | 2016 | CC (premenopausal) | - | 166 | (45/45 BAC+/-) | ? |
| Ronzani [68] | 2017 | CS | - | 312 | (55.9) | 23.0% |
| Fathala (II) [69] | 2018 | CS | - | 307 | (54/59 BAC+/-) | 46.3% |
| Yildiz (I) [70] | 2018 | CC (BAC) | - | 132 | (54) | - |
| Sarrafzadegann [71] | 2009 | CS (premenopausal) | - | 84 | <55 | 7.1% |
Abbreviations—CC: case control (variable used to separate cases and controls); BAC: breast arterial calcification; CS: cross sectional; DM: diabetes mellitus; CAD: coronary artery disease; CKD: chronic kidney disease; Green shading indicates studies that only included participants with no known history of cardiovascular disease; Orange shading indicates studies that only included participants with known history of cardiovascular disease.