Processed red meat intake and risk of COPD: A systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies

Abstract

Background & aims: No earlier study has summarized findings from previous publications on processed red meat intake and risk of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). This systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to examine the association between processed red meat intake and COPD risk.

Methods: We searched in PubMed/Medline, ISI Web of Knowledge, Scopus, EMBASE and Google Scholar up to April 2018 to identify relevant studies. Prospective cohort studies that considered processed red meat as the exposure variable and COPD as the main outcome variable or as one of the outcomes were included in the systematic review. Publications in which hazard ratios (HRs) were reported as effect size were included in the meta-analysis. Finally, five cohort studies were considered in this systematic review and meta-analysis.

Results: In total, 289,952 participants, including 8338 subjects with COPD, aged ≥27 years were included in the meta-analysis. These studies were from Sweden and the US. Linear dose response meta-analysis revealed that each 50 gr/week increase in processed red meat intake was associated with 8% higher risk of COPD (HR: 1.08; 95% CI: 1.03, 1.13). There was an evidence of non-linear association between processed red meat intake and risk of COPD (P < 0.001).

Conclusions: In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we found a significant positive association between processed red meat intake and risk of COPD.

Prospero registration number: CRD42017077971.

Keywords: COPD; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Diet; Processed red meat.