Abstract P521: Dairy Consumption and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease and Mortality in the Million Veteran Program

Background:Dietary habits are a major determinant of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and mortality risk. However, data on the role of dairy intake on the risk of CVD and death has been inconsistent.Objective:The primary objective is to assess whether total consumption of dairy products is associated with a lower risk of CVD and/or total mortality among US Veterans.Methods:In a prospective cohort study of US Veterans from the Million Veteran Program (MVP), dairy intake was collected through a self-reported food frequency questionnaire at baseline. Incidence of composite CVD (including MI, stroke, and cardiovascular death) and total mortality were measured via electronic health records and the National Death Index database. Cox Proportional hazard models were used to compute the multivariable adjusted hazard ratio of CVD and total mortality.Results:A total of 188,833 Veterans were studied with a mean age of 63.3 ± 12.3 years. After a mean follow-up of 3.2 years for CVD and 3.3 years for total mortality, 9,898 cases of CVD and 6,826 deaths occurred. Median dairy consumption was 1.2 servings/day. In a multivariable Cox regression adjusted for age, gender, race, body mass index (BMI), smoking, alcohol use, exercise, diet quality, diabetes mellitus, and level of education; hazard ratios (95% CI) for CVD were 1.00 (0.89-1.14) for dairy intake of 1-2 servings/week, 1.05 (0.92-1.20) for 2-3 servings/week, 1.01 (0.90-1.12) for 3-5 servings/week, 0.97 (0.87-1.08) for 5-7 servings/week, 0.96 (0.87-1.05) for 1-2 servings/day, 1.02 (0.91-1.13) for 2-3 servings/day, 1.02 (0.90-1.15) for 3-4 servings/day, and 1.11 (0.98-1.26) for 4+ servings/day as compared to <1 serving/week. For total mortality, the hazard ratios across consecutive categories of dairy intake were 0.85 (0.73-0.99), 0.83 (0.70-0.99), 0.87 (0.76-0.99), 0.84 (0.74-0.96), 0.94 (0.84-1.06), 1.10 (0.97-1.25), 1.12 (1.04-1.39), and 1.36 (1.18-1.58).Conclusion:Dairy intake was not associated with composite CVD. However, there was suggestive evidence for J-shaped relation of dairy intake with total mortality.