Abstract 436: Association Between Coffee Consumption and Hypertension in Asians

Abstract

Background: A link between coffee consumption and hypertension had been investigated over many years. Studies had shown that coffee-drinking is associated with small immediate increase in blood pressure, however long-term association between coffee consumption and hypertension is not clear. Using the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES), we evaluated the association of coffee consumption and hypertension in Korean population on a population-based level. Methods: Caffeinated coffee is one of the popular beverages in South Korea whereas decaffeinated coffee consumption is limited. We used the 4th Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES 2007-2009), a nationally representative sample of Korean adults. All adult population (>=18 y.o.) was divided into those who drink coffee 2-3 times per month or less (light consumption) and those who drink coffee at least once a week (regular consumption). Hypertension was identified by subject self-report. Hierarchical survey weights were employed to generate population-based prevalence. Odds ratio of having hypertension was calculated from a logistic regression model. Results: The final dataset included 14,853 participants from whom 79.6% drank coffee at least once a week. The following groups had higher coffee consumption: males (82.0%), age 46-65 years (81.6%), more than 12 years of education (82.2%), current smokers (87.7%), heavy drinkers (84.5%), and those with BMI ≥ 25 (84.2%). Hypertension prevalence in the regular coffee consumption group (15.3%) was significantly (p<0.001) lower than in the light consumption group (19.3%). After controlling for gender, age, education, current smoking status, physical activity, alcohol consumption and BMI, subjects who drank coffee at least once a week were 10% less likely to report that they have hypertension (OR 0.9 95% CI: 0.8-0.9; p=0.05). Conclusions: More frequent coffee drinkers have lower hypertension prevalence in Korea. This association remained significant after adjusting for socio-demographic and health behavior factors.