Dietary patterns and CVD: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies

Epidemiological studies show that diet is linked to the risk of developing CVD. The objective of this meta-analysis was to estimate the association between empirically derived dietary patterns and CVD. PubMed was searched for observational studies of data-driven dietary patterns that reported outcomes of cardiovascular events. The association between dietary patterns and CVD was estimated using a random-effects meta-analysis with 95% CI. Totally, twenty-two observational studies met the inclusion criteria. The pooled relative risk (RR) for CVD, CHD and stroke in a comparison of the highest to the lowest category of prudent/healthy dietary patterns in cohort studies was 0.69 (95% CI 0.60, 0.78; I-2=0%), 0.83 (95% CI 0.75, 0.92; I-2=44.6%) and 0.86 (95% CI 0.74, 1.01; I-2=59.5%), respectively. The pooled RR of CHD in a case-control comparison of the highest to the lowest category of prudent/healthy dietary patterns was 0.71 (95% CI 0.63, 0.80; I-2=0%). The pooled RR for CVD, CHD and stroke in a comparison of the highest to the lowest category of western dietary patterns in cohort studies was 1 . 14 (95% CI 0.92, 1.42; I-2=56.9%), 1.03 (95% CI 0.90, 1.17; I-2=59.4%) and 1.05 (95% CI 0.91, 1.22; I-2=27.6%), respectively; in case-control studies, there was evidence of increased CHD risk. Our results support the evidence of the prudent/healthy pattern as a protective factor for CVD.