Coffee consumption and risk of coronary heart disease: a meta-analysis.
OBJECTIVE
During the past three decades the relationship between habitual coffee drinking and coronary heart disease (CHD) has been assessed in numerous studies, with conflicting results. The aim of this study was to systematically examine the data published on the association between habitual coffee consumption and risk of CHD.


RESULTS
Thirteen case-control and 10 cohort studies were included. Case-control studies incorporated 9487 cases of CHD and 27,747 controls, and cohort studies included a total of 403,631 participants that were followed for between 3 and 44 years. The summary of odds ratios (OR) for the case-control studies showed statistically significant associations between coffee consumption and CHD for the highest intake group (>4 cups/day), OR 1.83 (95% CI 1.49-2.24; P<0.0001), and for the second highest category (3-4 cups/day), OR 1.33 (95% CI 1.04-1.71; P<0.0001), while no significant association emerged for low daily coffee intake (< or =2 cups/day), OR 1.03 (95% CI 0.87-1.21; P=0.45). The analysis of long-term follow-up cohort studies did not show any association between the consumption of coffee and CHD, with a relative risk (RR) of 1.16 (95% CI 0.95-1.41; P=0.14) for the highest category, and 1.05 (95% CI 0.90-1.22; P=0.57) and 1.04 (95% CI 0.90-1.19; P=0.60) for the second and third highest categories, respectively. These results did not differ substantially when controlling for region of origin, fatal and non-fatal events, year of publication, and number of years of follow-up.


CONCLUSIONS
Despite a significant association between high consumption of coffee and CHD reported among case-control studies, no significant association between daily coffee consumption and CHD emerged from long-term follow-up prospective cohort studies.
Sofi
Francesco
F
Department of Medical and Surgical Critical Care and Center for the Study at Molecular and Clinical Level of Chronic, Degenerative and Neoplastic Diseases to Develop Novel Therapies, University of Florence, Florence, Italy. francescosofi@gmail.com
Conti
Andrea A
AA
Gori
Anna Maria
AM
Eliana Luisi
Maria Luisa
ML
Casini
Alessandro
A
Abbate
Rosanna
R
Gensini
Gian Franco
GF
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002110:Caffeine / Q000378:metabolism; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003069:Coffee / Q000009:adverse effects*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012306:Risk
D003069:Coffee; D002110:Caffeine