Study population

The KIHD was designed to investigate risk factors for CVD, atherosclerosis and related outcomes in a prospective, population-based sample of men from eastern Finland [20]. The baseline examinations were carried out in 1984–1989. A total of 2682 men (83% of those eligible) who were 42, 48, 54 or 60 years old at baseline were recruited. The baseline characteristics of the entire study population have been described elsewhere [21]. The KIHD protocol was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the University of Kuopio. All subjects gave written informed consent for participation. Subjects with history of CVD (n = 1016), cancer (n = 29) or type 2 diabetes (n = 71) at baseline or with missing data on dietary intakes (n = 19) were excluded, leaving 1547 men for the current analyses (Fig. 1).

A flowchart showing the reasons for exclusion of participants from the analyses of the current study