TY - JOUR
T1 - Lower rates of cancer and all-cause mortality in an Adventist cohort compared with a US Census population
AU - Fraser, Gary E.
AU - Cosgrove, Candace M.
AU - Mashchak, Andrew D.
AU - Orlich, Michael J.
AU - Altekruse, Sean F.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 American Cancer Society
PY - 2020/3/1
Y1 - 2020/3/1
N2 - Background: Previous research suggests that Adventists, who often follow vegetarian diets, live longer and have lower risks for many cancers than others, but there are no national data and little published comparative data for black subjects. Methods: This study compared all-cause mortality and cancer incidence between the nationally inclusive Adventist Health Study 2 (AHS-2) and nonsmokers in US Census populations: the National Longitudinal Mortality Study (NLMS) and its Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results substudy. Analyses used proportional hazards regression adjusting for age, sex, race, cigarette smoking history, and education. Results: All-cause mortality and all-cancer incidence in the black AHS-2 population were significantly lower than those for the black NLMS populations (hazard ratio [HR] for mortality, 0.64; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.59-0.69; HR for incidence, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.68-0.88). When races were combined, estimated all-cause mortality was also significantly lower in the AHS-2 population at the age of 65 years (HR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.64-0.69) and at the age of 85 years (HR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.75-0.81), as was cancer mortality; this was also true for the rate of all incident cancers combined (HR, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.67-0.74) and the rates of breast, colorectal, and lung cancers. Survival curves confirmed the mortality results and showed that among males, AHS-2 blacks survived longer than white US subjects. Conclusions: Substantially lower rates of all-cause mortality and cancer incidence among Adventists have implications for the effects of lifestyle and perhaps particularly diet on the etiology of these health problems. Trends similar to those seen in the combined population are also found in comparisons of black AHS-2 and NLMS subjects.
AB - Background: Previous research suggests that Adventists, who often follow vegetarian diets, live longer and have lower risks for many cancers than others, but there are no national data and little published comparative data for black subjects. Methods: This study compared all-cause mortality and cancer incidence between the nationally inclusive Adventist Health Study 2 (AHS-2) and nonsmokers in US Census populations: the National Longitudinal Mortality Study (NLMS) and its Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results substudy. Analyses used proportional hazards regression adjusting for age, sex, race, cigarette smoking history, and education. Results: All-cause mortality and all-cancer incidence in the black AHS-2 population were significantly lower than those for the black NLMS populations (hazard ratio [HR] for mortality, 0.64; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.59-0.69; HR for incidence, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.68-0.88). When races were combined, estimated all-cause mortality was also significantly lower in the AHS-2 population at the age of 65 years (HR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.64-0.69) and at the age of 85 years (HR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.75-0.81), as was cancer mortality; this was also true for the rate of all incident cancers combined (HR, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.67-0.74) and the rates of breast, colorectal, and lung cancers. Survival curves confirmed the mortality results and showed that among males, AHS-2 blacks survived longer than white US subjects. Conclusions: Substantially lower rates of all-cause mortality and cancer incidence among Adventists have implications for the effects of lifestyle and perhaps particularly diet on the etiology of these health problems. Trends similar to those seen in the combined population are also found in comparisons of black AHS-2 and NLMS subjects.
KW - Seventh-Day Adventists
KW - blacks
KW - cancer
KW - cohort study
KW - mortality
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U2 - 10.1002/cncr.32571
DO - 10.1002/cncr.32571
M3 - Article
C2 - 31762009
SN - 0008-543X
VL - 126
SP - 1102
EP - 1111
JO - Cancer
JF - Cancer
IS - 5
ER -