Table 1 Subgroup Analysis of Plant-Based Dietary Patterns and Risks of Incident Type 2 Diabetes, Cardiovascular Disease, Cancer, and Mortality

Type 2 diabetes

 Main estimate

22

0.84 (0.81–0.86)

0.81 (0.77–0.86)

59.7

 Age, y

0.56

  <55

11

0.81 (0.78–0.85)

0.79 (0.73–0.87)

68.7

  ≥55

11

0.85 (0.82–0.89)

0.84 (0.79–0.89)

42.0

 Sex

0.48

  Studies among males only

2

0.81 (0.72–0.90)

0.79 (0.63–0.99)

75.4

  Studies among females only

6

0.86 (0.82–0.89)

0.85 (0.79–0.91)

64.8

  Studies among males and females

14

0.82 (0.78–0.86)

0.81 (0.77–0.86)

58.3

 BMI, kg/m²

0.90

  <25

11

0.83 (0.79–0.86)

0.81 (0.75–0.88)

67.8

  ≥25

11

0.84 (0.81–0.88)

0.82 (0.76–0.87)

51.8

 Region

0.87

  North America

12

0.85 (0.82–0.89)

0.82 (0.76–0.88)

60.1

  Europe

4

0.78 (0.72–0.84)

0.79 (0.71–0.87)

43.5

  Asia/Australia

6

0.83 (0.79–0.88)

0.82 (0.73–0.91)

66.4

 Dietary pattern classification

0.048

  Vegan or vegetarian diets

5

0.75 (0.67–0.84)

0.63 (0.47–0.84)

77.4

  A priori-defined PDI

17

0.84 (0.82–0.87)

0.83 (0.80–0.87)

48.3

 Follow-up duration, y

0.22

  <15

11

0.81 (0.77–0.86)

0.76 (0.68–0.84)

66.3

  ≥15

11

0.84 (0.81–0.86)

0.84 (0.79–0.88)

51.5

Cardiovascular disease

 Main estimate

23

0.90 (0.87–0.92)

0.89 (0.85–0.94)

51.0

 Age, y

0.88

  <55

16

0.89 (0.85–0.93)

0.87 (0.80–0.96)

63.8

  ≥55

7

0.90 (0.87–0.93)

0.89 (0.85–0.93)

0

 Sex

0.68

  Studies among males only

3

0.94 (0.85–1.04)

0.94 (0.85–1.04)

0

  Studies among females only

6

0.90 (0.85–0.94)

0.90 (0.85–0.94)

0

  Studies among males and females

14

0.89 (0.86–0.93)

0.86 (0.79–0.97)

68.1

 BMI, kg/m²

0.76

  <25

7

0.91 (0.85–0.98)

0.87 (0.72–1.05)

77.9

  ≥25

12

0.90 (0.87–0.93)

0.90 (0.87–0.93)

0

 Region

0.02

  North America

14

0.89 (0.86–0.93)

0.89 (0.85–0.94)

16.2

  Europe

7

0.91 (0.87–0.95)

0.91 (0.83-1.00)

71.5

  Asia/Australia

2

0.52 (0.35–0.76)

0.52 (0.35–0.76)

0

 Dietary classification

0.99

  Vegan or vegetarian diets

5

0.90 (0.86–0.95)

0.85 (0.70–1.03)

85.0

  A priori-defined PDI

18

0.90 (0.87–0.93)

0.90 (0.86–0.93)

6.1

 Follow-up duration, y

0.45

  <15

8

0.91 (0.87–0.95)

0.86 (0.77–0.96)

46.0

  ≥15

15

0.89 (0.86–0.93)

0.90 (0.85–0.96)

55.9

Cancer

 Main estimate

32

0.90 (0.87–0.92)

0.88 (0.85–0.92)

29.0

 Age, y

0.86

  <55

14

0.88 (0.85–0.92)

0.88 (0.85–0.92)

0

  ≥55

16

0.91 (0.87–0.94)

0.88 (0.82–0.94)

50.2

 Sex

0.40

  Studies among males only

5

0.89 (0.84–0.95)

0.83 (0.70–0.98)

75.3

  Studies among females only

12

0.90 (0.86–0.94)

0.90 (0.86–0.94)

0

  Studies among males and females

15

0.89 (0.86–0.93)

0.87 (0.82–0.92)

18.5

 BMI, kg/m²

0.51

  <25

12

0.90 (0.87–0.94)

0.90 (0.87–0.94)

0

  ≥25

19

0.89 (0.86–0.93)

0.87 (0.81–0.92)

41.0

 Region

0.39

  North America

20

0.89 (0.85–0.92)

0.86 (0.81–0.91)

47.7

  Europe

12

0.91 (0.87–0.95)

0.91 (0.86–0.95)

0

  Asia/Australia

 Dietary classification

0.14

  Vegan or vegetarian diets

16

0.85 (0.80–0.91)

0.85 (0.80–0.91)

0

  A priori-defined PDI

16

0.91 (0.88–0.93)

0.90 (0.85–0.94)

43.0

 Follow-up duration, y

0.98

  <15

15

0.90 (0.86–0.94)

0.87 (0.81–0.94)

38.2

  ≥15

17

0.89 (0.86–0.93)

0.88 (0.84–0.93)

23.4

Mortality

 Main estimate

32

0.86 (0.84–0.87)

0.85 (0.79–0.91)

94.6

 Age, y

0.77

  <55

17

0.87 (0.85–0.88)

0.88 (0.80–0.96)

95.9

  ≥55

12

0.88 (0.85–0.90)

0.86 (0.80–0.94)

83.9

 Sex

0.66

  Studies among males only

3

0.94 (0.91–0.97)

0.92 (0.86–0.99)

66.4

  Studies among females only

3

0.85 (0.82–0.88)

0.90 (0.77–1.04)

91.6

  Studies among males and females

26

0.83 (0.82–0.85)

0.83 (0.76–0.91)

95.5

 BMI, kg/m²

0.24

  <25

12

0.89 (0.87–0.91)

0.90 (0.84–0.95)

86.6

  ≥25

11

0.83 (0.80–0.86)

0.84 (0.77–0.92)

77.0

 Region

0.56

  North America

13

0.89 (0.87–0.90)

0.87 (0.81–0.94)

92.6

  Europe

14

0.75 (0.73–0.78)

0.80 (0.67–0.96)

96.4

  Asia/Australia

5

0.88 (0.84–0.92)

0.86 (0.76–0.97)

80.9

 Dietary classification

0.90

  Vegan or vegetarian diets

14

0.76 (0.74–0.78)

0.86 (0.73–1.01)

96.4

  A priori-defined PDI

18

0.89 (0.87–0.90)

0.85 (0.80–0.91)

90.6

 Follow-up duration, y

0.16

  <15

20

0.80 (0.78–0.82)

0.81 (0.74–0.89)

91.2

  ≥15

12

0.88 (0.87–0.90)

0.90 (0.80-1.00)

97.1