Association of coffee consumption and chronic kidney disease: A meta-analysis

The risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in individuals who regularly drink coffee is controversial. The aim of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the association between coffee consumption and CKD.

A literature search was performed using MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews from inception until April 2016. We included studies that reported odd ratios or hazard ratios comparing the risk of CKD in individuals consuming significant amount of coffee vs. those who did not consume coffee. Pooled risk ratios (RR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated using a random-effect, generic inverse variance method.

Four observational studies with 14 898 individuals were included in our analysis to assess the association between coffee consumption and CKD. Coffee consumption was defined as one cup of coffee per day or greater. The pooled RR of CKD in individuals consuming coffee was 0.71 (95% CI, 0.47-1.08). The subgroup analysis showed the pooled RRs of CKD of 1.10 (95% CI, 0.94-1.29) in males and 0.81 (95% CI, 0.58-1.13) in females, respectively.

Our study demonstrates no significant association between coffee consumption and CKD in males. However, future studies are required to assess a potential inverse association between coffee consumption and risk for developing CKD in females.