Cited by 840Cardiovascular Health and Risk FactorsHealth and Lifestyle StudiesNutritional Studies and Diet

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 36 of the 36 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 22 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.

Combined Impact of Health Behaviours and Mortality in Men and Women: The EPIC-Norfolk Prospective Population Study

Open access

Abstract

BACKGROUND: There is overwhelming evidence that behavioural factors influence health, but their combined impact on the general population is less well documented. We aimed to quantify the potential combined impact of four health behaviours on mortality in men and women living in the general community. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We examined the prospective relationship between lifestyle and mortality in a prospective population study of 20,244 men and women aged 45-79 y with no known cardiovascular disease or cancer at baseline survey in 1993-1997, living in the general community in the United Kingdom, and followed up to 2006. Participants scored one point for each health behaviour: current non-smoking, not physically inactive, moderate alcohol intake (1-14 units a week) and plasma vitamin C >50 mmol/l indicating fruit and vegetable intake of at least five servings a day, for a total score ranging from zero to four. After an average 11 y follow-up, the age-, sex-, body mass-, and social class-adjusted relative risks (95% confidence intervals) for all-cause mortality(1,987 deaths) for men and women who had three, two, one, and zero compared to four health behaviours were respectively, 1.39 (1.21-1.60), 1.95 (1.70--2.25), 2.52 (2.13-3.00), and 4.04 (2.95-5.54) p < 0.001 trend. The relationships were consistent in subgroups stratified by sex, age, body mass index, and social class, and after excluding deaths within 2 y. The trends were strongest for cardiovascular causes. The mortality risk for those with four compared to zero health behaviours was equivalent to being 14 y younger in chronological age. CONCLUSIONS: Four health behaviours combined predict a 4-fold difference in total mortality in men and women, with an estimated impact equivalent to 14 y in chronological age.

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

In EPIC-Norfolk, four simple health behaviours—nonsmoking, not physically inactive, moderate alcohol intake, and plasma vitamin C consistent with ≥5 fruit/vegetable servings/day—were combined into a 0–4 score. Over an average 11 years, adults with zero behaviours had about four times the all-cause mortality risk of those with all four, equivalent to roughly 14 years of chronological age.

Key findings

  • Among 20,244 men and women aged 45–79 without known cardiovascular disease or cancer at baseline, adjusted all-cause mortality relative risks versus a score of 4 were 1.39 (95% CI 1.21–1.60) for score 3, 1.95 (1.70–2.25) for score 2, 2.52 (2.13–3.00) for score 1, and 4.04 (2.95–5.54) for score 0; p < 0.001 for trend.
  • Cardiovascular mortality showed the strongest gradient: score 0 versus score 4 had RR 5.02 (95% CI 2.93–8.61). Cancer mortality score 0 versus 4 was RR 3.74 (2.34–5.98), and non-CVD/noncancer mortality was RR 3.56 (1.77–7.16).
  • Adjusted cumulative survival was about 75% for those scoring zero and 95% for those scoring four. The mortality risk difference between score 0 and score 4 was equivalent to approximately 14 years of chronological age.
  • Relationships were consistent in subgroups stratified by sex, age, BMI, and social class, and after excluding deaths within 2 years; similar trends were seen in 2,057 individuals with prevalent disease excluded from main analyses.

Methods

  • Prospective population study: EPIC-Norfolk, UK, baseline survey 1993–1997, follow-up to July 2006 (average 11 years). Of 22,301 with complete data, 2,057 with history of heart disease, stroke, or cancer were excluded, leaving 20,244 participants aged 45–79.
  • Health behaviour score: one point each for current nonsmoking, not physically inactive, moderate alcohol intake (1–14 units/week), and plasma vitamin C >50 mmol/l indicating at least five fruit/vegetable servings daily; total score 0–4.
  • Cox proportional hazards models estimated relative risks for all-cause and cause-specific mortality, adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, and social class; analyses included subgroup stratification and exclusion of deaths within 2 years.

Limitations

  • The paper states potential large measurement errors in exposure assessment, use of only one baseline measure without accounting for lifestyle changes over follow-up, no weighting of different behaviours, and dichotomizing physical activity as inactive versus not inactive, which may obscure gradients between moderately inactive and active people.
  • The paper states residual confounding cannot be excluded, and the analyses examined only mortality, not functional health or quality of life.
  • Evident from the text: the cohort was 99.5% white, resident in Norfolk, UK, and middle-aged/older, so findings may not generalize to other populations; the observational design cannot establish causality.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1371/journal.pmed.0050012

Cites

36 of 36 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Figures

Figure 1 Survival Function According to Number of Health Behaviours in Men and Women Aged 45–79 Years without Known Cardiovascular Disease or Cancer, Adjusted for Age, Sex, Body Mass Index and Social Class, EPIC-Norfolk 1993–2006
Figure 1 Survival Function According to Number of Health Behaviours in Men and Women Aged 45–79 Years without Known Cardiovascular Disease or Cancer, Adjusted for Age, Sex, Body Mass Index and Social Class, EPIC-Norfolk 1993–2006CC BY · PubMed Central

Verification

Claims the paper makes

19 Own result · 14 Not checked yet · 10 Own method · 6 Own interpretation · 1 No basis given

Verify all 22 references — free account
  • It may state two separate claims as one. 14
  • The quote only partly states this claim. 4
  • Probably not a substantial claim. 15
30 of 30
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Health behaviours such as smoking, diet, and physical activity are highly correlated.

    “Many health behaviours such as smoking habit, diet, and physical activity are highly correlated and, in aetiologically focused papers, treated as covariates.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Death certification at the Office of National Statistics, United Kingdom, is virtually complete.

    “All participants are flagged for death certification at the Office of National Statistics, United Kingdom which is virtually complete.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The observed associations between health behaviour score and mortality are not explained by unmeasured or residual confounding.

    “After allowing for other factors that might have affected their likelihood of dying (for example, age)”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The EPIC-Norfolk cohort is representative of middle-aged and older people in the general population.

    “These findings indicate that the combination of four simply defined health behaviors predicts a 4-fold difference in the risk of dying over an average period of 11 years for middle-aged and older people.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Mortality follow-up via record linkage was complete and accurate.

    “Deaths among the participants were then recorded until 2006.”
5 of 5

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

4 of 4

Citations

Cites

Show all 36 references

Research works printed but not linked: 34

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  10. Ness, 1997, Int J Epidemiol, 26, 1
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  12. Sesso, 1999, Am J Epidemiol, 150, 408
  13. Stampfer, 2000, N Engl J Med, 343, 16
  14. Thompson, 2003, Circulation, 107, 3109
  15. Trichopoulou, 2003, N Engl J Med, 348, 2599
  16. Alonso, 2005, JAMA, 293, 674
  17. Craighead, 2005, JAMA, 293, 674
  18. Khaw, 2001, Lancet, 357, 657
  19. Khaw, 2006, Int J Epidemiol, 35, 1034
  20. Day, 1999, Br J Cancer, 80, 95
  21. Wareham, 2002, Int J Epidemiol, 31, 168
  22. Wareham, 2003, Public Health Nutr, 6, 407
  23. Shohaimi, 2004, Eur Respir J, 24, 157
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  34. Myint, 2006, Ann Epidemiol, 16, 492

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Metadata

Authors
Khaw, K.-T., Wareham, N., Bingham, S., Welch, A., Luben, R., & Day, N.
Affiliations
  • University of Cambridge (GB)
  • MRC Epidemiology Unit (GB)
  • Medical Research Council (GB)
Corresponding author
Khaw, Kay-Tee
Venue
PLoS Medicine
Published
2008-01-08
Volume
5
Issue
1
Pages
e12
ISSN
  • 1549-1277 (ISSN-L)
  • 1549-1676
OpenAlex
W2109585014
Cited by
840
References
36
Citations by year
2026: 21 · 2025: 21 · 2024: 27 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 28 · 2021: 38 · 2020: 50 · 2019: 41 · 2018: 37 · 2017: 54 · 2016: 59 · 2015: 67 · 2014: 60 · 2013: 73 · 2012: 54
FWCI
45.36
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • PLoS Medicine (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • UEA Digital Repository (University of East Anglia) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • British Heart Foundation
  • Stroke Association
  • Medical Research Council
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Cardiovascular Health and Risk Factors
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Health and Lifestyle Studies
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Nutritional Studies and Diet
Keywords
health behavior, mortality, lifestyle, all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, smoking, physical inactivity, alcohol consumption, vitamin C, fruit and vegetable intake, sex differences, EPIC-Norfolk
MeSH terms
Aged, Alcohol Drinking, Ascorbic Acid, Diet, England, Female, Fruit, Humans, Life Expectancy, Life Style, Male, Middle Aged, Morbidity, Mortality, Motor Activity, Physical Examination, Prospective Studies, Surveys and Questionnaires, Risk, Sex Factors, Smoking, Vegetables, Health Behavior

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