Association Between ω-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Supplementation and Mortality in Hospitalized Patients or...

Hospitalized patients and those with medical disorders frequently present with nutritional deficits and systemic inflammation. Whether omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (ω-3 PUFA) supplementation improves survival in this vulnerable population is unclear.

This study aimed to examine the potential association between ω-3 PUFAs and all-cause mortality risk in hospitalized or medically ill patients.

We searched the following databases from their inception to October 15, 2025: PubMed, Embase, The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and the Chinese databases China Science and Technology Journal (CSTJ), Wanfang, Chinese Biomedical Literature (CBM), and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI).

Randomized controlled trials comparing ω-3 PUFAs with a placebo or standard therapy were included in the analysis to determine their effects on the composite endpoint of all-cause mortality in hospitalized or medically ill patients. Clinical data were extracted independently, and the quality of each study was evaluated. A quantitative synthesis was then conducted using both fixed- and random-effects models to estimate the mortality risk ratio between the intervention and control groups. The primary endpoint was all-cause mortality.

We performed statistical analyses using RevMan (version 5.3.3) and R (version 4.4.0) and calculated risk ratios (RRs) with 95% CIs to evaluate the outcomes.

In summary, this meta-analysis demonstrates that ω-3 PUFA supplementation is associated with a significant reduction in the risks of all-cause, cardiovascular, and coronary heart disease mortality among hospitalized patients or individuals with existing medical conditions. Patients with cardiovascular disease or myocardial infarction appeared to derive a greater benefit. These findings suggest that ω-3 PUFAs play a potential role as a beneficial intervention in the primary or secondary prevention of cardiovascular outcomes but do not address effects in community-dwelling healthy individuals.

PROSPERO registration no. CRD42024620157.