RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Cured meat intake is associated with worsening asthma symptoms
JF Thorax
JO Thorax
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and British Thoracic Society
SP 206
OP 212
DO 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2016-208375
VO 72
IS 3
A1 Zhen Li
A1 Marta Rava
A1 Annabelle Bédard
A1 Orianne Dumas
A1 Judith Garcia-Aymerich
A1 Bénédicte Leynaert
A1 Christophe Pison
A1 Nicole Le Moual
A1 Isabelle Romieu
A1 Valérie Siroux
A1 Carlos A Camargo, Jr
A1 Rachel Nadif
A1 Raphaëlle Varraso
YR 2017
UL http://thorax.bmj.com/content/72/3/206.abstract
AB Background Cured meat intake—a recent carcinogenic factor—may increase the risk of COPD, but its association with asthma remains unknown. Though body mass index (BMI) is a likely risk factor for asthma, its role in the diet–asthma association as a mediator has never been studied. We investigated the association between cured meat intake and worsening asthma symptoms in adults, and the role of BMI as a potential mediator.Methods Using data from the French prospective EGEA study (baseline: 2003–2007; follow-up: 2011–2013), we applied a mediation analysis in the counterfactual framework, a marginal structural model (MSM), to estimate the direct effect of baseline cured meat intake (<1, 1–3.9, ≥4 servings/week) on change in asthma symptom score (worsening or not), and the indirect effect mediated by BMI.Results Among the 971 participants (mean age 43 years; 49% men; 42% with asthma), 20% reported worsening asthma symptoms during the mean follow-up time of 7 years. Using the MSM, we reported a positive direct effect of cured meat intake on worsening asthma symptoms (multivariable OR=1.76, 95% CI 1.01 to 3.06 for ≥4 vs <1 serving/week). We also reported an indirect effect mediated by BMI (OR=1.07; 95% CI 1.01 to 1.14), accounting for 14% of the total effect.Conclusions Higher cured meat intake was associated with worsening asthma symptoms over time, through a direct effect and to a lesser extent an effect mediated by BMI. This research extends the effect of diet on asthma in adults.