Table 2.

Summary risk estimates for the associations between egg and cholesterol intake and risk of CVD mortality in adults aged ≥18 years^a.

	#RRb	Pooled RR (95% CI)c	I2 (%)d	P-heterogeneitye	P-meta-regression
The highest vs. lowest comparison
Egg intake
Overall	16	1.01 (0.90–1.13)	83.1	<0.001
Subgroup analysis
Study location
US	5	1.15 (1.05–1.25)	50.1	0.09	0.23
Non-US	11	0.97 (0.85–1.10)	60.6	0.005
Gender
Both	14	0.98 (0.87–1.12)	83.4	<0.001	0.16
Male	0	–	–	–
Female	2	1.24 (1.14–1.34)	0	0.89
Follow-up duration
≥15 years	5	1.11 (0.99–1.24)	70.3	0.009	0.11
<15 years	11	0.96 (0.85–1.08)	51	0.02
Dietary assessment tools
FFQ or DHQ	15	1.02 (0.91–1.14)	83.9	<0.001	0.61
Food recall or record	1	0.89 (0.64–1.23)	–	–
Adjustment for energy
Yes	11	1.07 (0.98–1.16)	60.4	0.005	0.008
No	5	0.91 (0.67–1.24)	57.7	0.05
Adjustment for BMI
Yes	13	0.99 (0.87–1.12)	85.4	<0.001	0.48
No	3	1.16 (0.82–1.64)	64.4	0.06
Adjustment for lipid-lowering medication
Yes	3	0.93 (0.80–1.07)	0	0.91	0.68
No	13	1.02 (0.90–1.15)	85.6	<0.001
Dietary cholesterol intake
Overall	9	1.09 (0.96–1.24)	64.1	0.004
Subgroup analysis
Study location
US	5	1.13 (1.08–1.18)	0	0.75	0.27
Non-US	4	0.99 (0.62–1.59)	82	0.001
Gender
Both	5	1.05 (0.78–1.39)	77.7	0.001	0.97
Male	2	1.01 (0.77–1.33)	26.8	0.24
Female	2	1.20 (1.07–1.34)	0	0.65
Follow-up duration
≥15 years	2	1.13 (1.08–1.18)	0	0.32	0.28
<15 years	7	1.06 (0.81–1.40)	68.4	0.004
Dietary assessment tools
FFQ or DHQ	7	1.13 (1.01–1.26)	54.3	0.04	0.30
Food recall or record	2	0.64 (0.23–1.74)	83	0.01
Adjustment for energy
Yes	8	1.07 (0.96–1.19)	51.9	0.04	0.09
No	1	3.53 (1.57–7.95)	–	–
Adjustment for BMI
Yes	6	1.02 (0.84–1.24)	58.6	0.03	0.42
No	3	1.27 (0.90–1.78)	78.7	0.009
Adjustment for lipid lowering medication
Yes	0	–	–	–	-
No	9	1.09 (0.96–1.24)	64.1	0.004
Linear dose-response association
Egg intake (per 1 egg/d increase)
Overall	21	1.00 (0.92– 1.09)	81.6	<0.001
Subgroup analysis
Study location
US	15	0.96 (0.85– 1.09)	72.6	<0.001	0.21
Non-US	6	1.17 (1.11– 1.23)	31	0.20
Gender
Both	19	0.99 (0.89– 1.09)	81.9	<0.001	0.60
Male	–	–		–
Female	2	1.10 (0.84– 1.43)	66.2	0.08
Follow-up duration
≥10 years	8	1.05 (0.97– 1.15)	78.2	<0.001	0.74
<10 years	13	1.00 (0.84– 1.19)	74.4	<0.001
Dietary assessment tools
FFQ or DHQ	20	1.00 (0.92– 1.10)	82.1	<0.001	0.63
Food recall or record	1	0.86 (0.61– 1.21)	–	–
Adjustment for energy
Yes	13	1.08 (1.00– 1.15)	63.6	0.001	0.27
No	8	0.98 (0.78– 1.22)	81.3	<0.001
Adjustment for BMI
Yes	17	0.97 (0.89– 1.07)	81.2	<0.001	0.19
No	4	1.44 (0.94– 2.18)	83.4	<0.001
Adjustment for lipid-lowering medication
Yes	5	1.11 (0.78–1.58)	76.4	0.002	0.68
No	16	0.99 (0.90–1.08)	83.6	<0.001
Dietary cholesterol intake (per 100 mg/d increase)
Overall	9	1.04 (0.99– 1.10)	85.9	<0.001
Subgroup analysis
Study location
US	5	1.10 (1.03– 1.18)	77.6	0.001	0.32
Non-US	4	0.99 (0.91– 1.08)	83	0.001
Gender
Both	6	1.02 (0.96– 1.09)	81.4	<0.001	0.91
Male	2	0.98 (0.95– 1.01)	0	0.57
Female	1	1.29 (1.17– 1.43)	–	–
Follow-up duration
≥10 years	3	1.11 (1.02– 1.20)	88.7	<0.001	0.31
<10 years	6	1.00 (0.92– 1.08)	72.9	0.002
Dietary assessment tools
FFQ or DHQ	7	1.07 (1.01– 1.12)	86.7	<0.001	0.18
Food recall or record	2	0.92 (0.74– 1.15)	56.8	0.12
Adjustment for energy
Yes	8	1.03 (0.98– 1.08)	85.5	<0.001	0.10
No	1	1.38 (1.13– 1.68)	–	–
Adjustment for BMI
Yes	6	1.01 (0.96– 1.06)	80.8	<0.001	0.13
No	3	1.19 (0.95– 1.50)	93.3	<0.001
Adjustment for lipid-lowering medication
Yes	1	1.07 (1.02–1.12)	87.1	<0.001	0.96
No	8	1.04 (0.98–1.11)	–	–

^aBMI, body mass index; CI, confidence interval; RR, relative risk; DHQ, dietary history questionnaire; FFQ, food frequency questionnaire; US, United States.

^bNumber of risk estimates.

^cObtained from the random-effects model.

^dInconsistency, the percentage of variation across studies due to heterogeneity.

^eObtained from the Q-test.