Coffee consumption and coronary artery calcium in young and middle-aged asymptomatic adults.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the association between regular coffee consumption and the prevalence of coronary artery calcium (CAC) in a large sample of young and middle-aged asymptomatic men and women.


METHODS
This cross-sectional study included 25 138 men and women (mean age 41.3 years) without clinically evident cardiovascular disease who underwent a health screening examination that included a validated food frequency questionnaire and a multidetector CT to determine CAC scores. We used robust Tobit regression analyses to estimate the CAC score ratios associated with different levels of coffee consumption compared with no coffee consumption and adjusted for potential confounders.


RESULTS
The prevalence of detectable CAC (CAC score >0) was 13.4% (n=3364), including 11.3% prevalence for CAC scores 1-100 (n=2832), and 2.1% prevalence for CAC scores >100 (n=532). The mean ±SD consumption of coffee was 1.8±1.5 cups/day. The multivariate-adjusted CAC score ratios (95% CIs) comparing coffee drinkers of <1, 1-<3, 3-<5, and ≥5 cups/day to non-coffee drinkers were 0.77 (0.49 to 1.19), 0.66 (0.43 to 1.02), 0.59 (0.38 to 0.93), and 0.81 (0.46 to 1.43), respectively (p for quadratic trend=0.02). The association was similar in subgroups defined by age, sex, smoking status, alcohol consumption, status of obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and hypercholesterolaemia.


CONCLUSIONS
In this large sample of men and women apparently free of clinically evident cardiovascular disease, moderate coffee consumption was associated with a lower prevalence of subclinical coronary atherosclerosis.
Center for Cohort Studies, Total Healthcare Screening Center, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University, School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Yuni
Y
Choi
Center for Cohort Studies, Total Healthcare Screening Center, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University, School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University, School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea Department of Clinical Research Design and Evaluation, SAIHST, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Yoosoo
Y
Chang
Center for Cohort Studies, Total Healthcare Screening Center, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University, School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University, School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea Department of Clinical Research Design and Evaluation, SAIHST, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Seungho
S
Ryu
Center for Cohort Studies, Total Healthcare Screening Center, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University, School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea Department of Health Sciences and Technology, SAIHST, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, Republic of Korea Departments of Epidemiology and Medicine, and Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology, and Clinical Research, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Juhee
J
Cho
Departments of Epidemiology and Medicine, and Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology, and Clinical Research, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Julius Centre University of Malaya, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sanjay
S
Rampal
Departments of Epidemiology and Medicine, and Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology, and Clinical Research, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Yiyi
Y
Zhang
Center for Cohort Studies, Total Healthcare Screening Center, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University, School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Jiin
J
Ahn
Division of Cardiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Joao A C
JA
Lima
Center for Cohort Studies, Total Healthcare Screening Center, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University, School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea Department of Family Medicine, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Hocheol
H
Shin
Departments of Epidemiology and Medicine, and Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology, and Clinical Research, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Eliseo
E
Guallar
D000328:Adult; D003069:Coffee; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D061205:Vascular Calcification / Q000453:epidemiology*
D003069:Coffee