ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: To investigate the association between fish consumption and mortality in 36,003 Chinese. METHODS: A case-control study collected 81% of all deaths of those aged 30+ from all four Hong Kong death registries in 1998. Relatives registering the deaths provided demographic, dietary and other lifestyle data for the deceased (case) and a similarly aged living person (control). Causes of death were provided by the Department of Health. Logistic regression was used to calculate the mortality odds ratios (ORs) for fish consumption adjusting for potential confounders in the 23,608 cases and 12,395 controls. RESULTS: Compared with the lowest fish consumption of less than or equal to three times a month, higher consumption of one to three times a week was associated with lower mortality ORs (95% confidence interval [CI]) of 0.75 (0.62-0.89) for all-cause, 0.66 (0.48-0.92) for ischemic heart disease (IHD), 0.70 (0.50-0.98) for stroke, 0.66 (0.53-0.82) for cancer, but not for injury and poisoning. The highest level of fish consumption of greater than or equal to four times a week also reduced mortality with ORs (95% CI) of 0.80 (0.68-0.94) for all-cause and 0.63 (0.47-0.85) for IHD. CONCLUSIONS: Fish consumption significantly reduced mortality from several causes in this sample. Further longitudinal studies to confirm the association are needed.
Subject(s)
Asian People/statistics & numerical data , Cardiovascular Diseases/mortality , Diet , Mortality/trends , Neoplasms/mortality , Aged , Cardiovascular Diseases/ethnology , Case-Control Studies , Cause of Death , Diet Surveys , Fatty Acids, Omega-3/administration & dosage , Female , Hong Kong , Humans , Logistic Models , Male , Neoplasms/ethnology , Odds Ratio , Registries/statistics & numerical data , SeafoodABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Food and drink are not consumed in isolation and can have complimentary effects enhancing or blocking the overall uptake of nutrients. We investigated how combinations of foods, drinks, and smoking affected mortality. Method Adjusted logistic regression was used to assess the joint effect of healthy foods, less healthy foods, smoking, and alcohol use on mortality in a case-control study of all Chinese adults aged 60 or over who died in 1998; 21,494 dead cases (81% of all registered deaths) and 10,968 live controls were included. RESULTS: There was a significant trend of increasing all-cause mortality risk with decreasing healthy food consumption (P < 0.001), and the increase in risk was significantly steeper for people with high intakes of less healthy food (P for interaction <0.001). There was a steeper risk from increasing less healthy food intake in ever-smokers and people not drinking tea regularly (P < 0.001), while the J-shaped relationship between alcohol and mortality differed in shape with level of less healthy food intake. CONCLUSION: Intake of some dietary items may modify the effect of others. An analysis framework explicitly recognizing complementary and potentially synergistic effects of food, drinks, and smoking could enhance our understanding of dietary epidemiology.