Effect of Coffee Consumption on Risk of Coronary Heart Disease in a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Prospective Cohort Studies

Previous prospective studies have reported inconsistent findings on the association between coffee consumption and the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). This study aimed to investigate their association using a meta-analysis of prospective studies. We searched PubMed and EMBASE for prospective cohort studies of the association between coffee consumption and the risk of CHD in the general population. We conducted a random-effects meta-analysis and also subgroup meta-analyses by various factors. Of 870 studies searched from databases, 32 prospective cohort studies were included in the final analysis. In the main meta-analysis of all studies, no significant association between coffee consumption and the risk of CHD was observed (relative risk [RR] 1.05, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.97 to 1.14, I2 = 64.9%). In the subgroup meta-analyses by gender, coffee consumption significantly increased the risk of CHD in men (RR 1.19, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.35, n = 17), whereas a nonsignificantly decreased risk of CHD was observed in women (RR 0.91, 95% CI 0.77 to 1.08, n = 11). Also, in the subgroup meta-analyses by follow-up period, coffee consumption significantly increased the risk of CHD in the follow-up of 20 years or longer (RR 1.16, 95% CI 1.06 to 1.27, n = 4) regardless of gender. In conclusion, in the current meta-analysis of prospective studies, we found that, overall, no significant association between coffee consumption and the risk of CHD was observed. However, coffee consumption showed a differential effect by gender, with an increased risk of CHD in men and a potentially decreased risk in women.