Association of Coffee Consumption With Overall and Cause-Specific Mortality in a Large US Prospective Cohort Study

Concerns about high caffeine intake and coffee as a vehicle for added fat and sugar have raised questions about the net impact of coffee on health. Although inverse associations have been observed for overall mortality, data for cause-specific mortality are sparse. Additionally, few studies have considered exclusively decaffeinated coffee intake or use of coffee additives. Coffee intake was assessed at baseline by self-report in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial. Hazard ratios were estimated using Cox proportional hazards models. Among 90,317 US adults without cancer at study baseline (1998-2001) or history of cardiovascular disease at study enrollment (1993-2001), 8,718 deaths occurred during 805,644 person-years of follow-up from 1998 through 2009. Following adjustment for smoking and other potential confounders, coffee drinkers, as compared with nondrinkers, had lower hazard ratios for overall mortality (<1 cup/day: hazard ratio (HR) = 0.99 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.92, 1.07); 1 cup/day: HR = 0.94 (95% CI: 0.87, 1.02); 2-3 cups/day: HR = 0.82 (95% CI: 0.77, 0.88); 4-5 cups/day: HR = 0.79 (95% CI: 0.72, 0.86); ≥6 cups/day: HR = 0.84 (95% CI: 0.75, 0.95)). Similar findings were observed for decaffeinated coffee and coffee additives. Inverse associations were observed for deaths from heart disease, chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes, pneumonia and influenza, and intentional self-harm, but not cancer. Coffee may reduce mortality risk by favorably affecting inflammation, lung function, insulin sensitivity, and depression.