Table 2 Hazard rate ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for colorectal cancer according to meat consumption group, vegetarian status and meat consumption status.

From: Vegetarianism, low meat consumption and the risk of colorectal cancer in a population based cohort study

Factor

Category

Person years

Colorectal cancer

Colon cancer

Rectal cancer

Cases

HR

(95%CI)a

HR

(95%CI)b

Cases

HR

(95%CI)a

HR

(95%CI)

Cases

HR

(95%CI)a

HR

(95%CI)b

Meat consumption group

 

vegetarian

11277

22

0.73

(0.47–1.13)

0.83

(0.53–1.31)

19

0.91

(0.57–1.47)

1.01

(0.62–1.66)

1

0.16

(0.02–1.15)

0.21

(0.03–1.55)

 

pescetarian

6429

14

0.80

(0.47–1.39)

0.88

(0.51—1.51)

11

0.92

(0.50–1.70)

0.96

(0.52–1.80)

2

0.52

(0.13–2.14)

0.68

(0.16–2.84)

 

1 day/wk meat

21451

41

0.72

(0.52-1.00)

0.77

(0.55–1.08)

30

0.76

(0.51–1.12)

0.80

(0.54–1.20)

10

0.83

(0.42–1.62)

0.97

(0.48–1.95)

 

2-5 day/wk meat

43360

116

0.93

(0.75–1.16)

0.95

(0.76–1.19)

82

0.96

(0.74–1.26)

0.99

(0.76–1.29)

23

0.84

(0.51–1.36)

0.87

(0.53–1.42)

 

6-7 day/wk meat

87356

244

1 (ref)

 

1 (ref)

 

165

1 (ref)

 

1 (ref)

 

56

1 (ref)

 

1 (ref)

 
 

P trend

  

0.04

 

0.19

  

0.36

 

0.7

  

0.03

 

0.14

 

Vegetarianism

vegetarianc

11277

22

0.78

(0.51–1.20)

0.89

(0.58–1.39)

19

0.95

(0.60–1.52)

1.06

(0.65–1.70)

1

0.17

(0.02–1.25)

0.22

(0.03–1.63)

 

non vegetarian

160598

415

1 (ref)

 

1 (ref)

 

288

1 (ref)

 

1 (ref)

 

91

1 (ref)

 

1 (ref)

 
 

self-defined vegetariand

18272

42

0.91

(0.66–1.25)

1.04

(0.74–1.44)

31

0.96

(0.66–1.39)

1.06

(0.72–1.55)

5

0.50

(0.20–1.24)

0.65

(0.26–1.63)

 

non self-defined vegetarian

154961

402

1 (ref)

 

1 (ref)

 

278

1 (ref)

 

1 (ref)

 

89

1 (ref)

 

1 (ref)

 

Meat consumption

No meat consumers

17706

36

0.81

(0.57–1.14)

0.90

(0.63–1.29)

30

0.96

(0.66–1.40)

1.04

(0.70–1.53)

3

0.32

(0.10–1.00)

0.41

(0.13–1.32)

 

Meat consumers

154169

401

1 (ref)

 

1 (ref)

 

277

1 (ref)

 

1 (ref)

 

89

1 (ref)

 

1 (ref)

 
 

≤1 day/wk meat

39158

77

0.75

(0.58–0.97)

0.82

(0.63–1.06)

60

0.84

(0.62–1.12)

0.89

(0.66–1.20)

13

0.62

(0.34–1.12)

0.77

(0.41–1.42)

 

>1 day/wk meat

132717

360

1 (ref)

 

1 (ref)

 

247

1 (ref)

 

1 (ref)

 

79

1 (ref)

 

1 (ref)

 
  1. aAdjusted for age (yrs) and sex.
  2. bAdjusted for age (yrs), sex, total energy intake (kcal), cigarette smoking (never, ever, current), alcohol consumption (g/day), BMI (kg/m2), non-occupational physical activity (<30, 30–60, 60–90, >90 min/d) and level of education (lower vocational, second and medium vocational, university and higher vocational).
  3. cConfirmed vegetarians based on the extensive Food Frequency Questionnaire (defined as individuals who consume a diet void of meat).
  4. dNLCS-MIC includes 1,133 self-defined vegetarians of whom 109 reported to consume meat but were not part of the randomly selected subcohort. These individuals are only included in analyses when comparing all self-defined vegetarians (either confirmed or not) to non-self-defined vegetarians and not for all other contrasts.
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