Background/objectives: The association between dietary cholesterol and stroke risk has remained controversial over the past two decades. The aim of this meta-analysis was to assess the relationship between dietary cholesterol and stroke risk.
Results: Seven prospective studies including 269,777 non-overlapping individuals (4,604 strokes) were included. The combined RR of stroke for higher cholesterol intake (> 300 mg/day) was 0.98 (95% CI, 0.90-1.07), and the combined RR of stroke for higher cholesterol intake (> 300 mg/day) in females (age of ≥ 60 years or body mass index of ≥ 24 kg/m2) was 1.18 (95% CI, 1.02-1.36).
Materials and methods: The PubMed, Medline, Embase, Web of Knowledge, and Google Scholar databases were searched. Relevant studies were identified by searching these online databases through September 2017. The relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to investigate the strength of the association.
Conclusions: Higher cholesterol intake has no association with the overall stroke risk. Age and body mass index affect the relationship between dietary cholesterol intake and stroke risk. However, the association between higher dietary cholesterol and stroke risk in males remains unclear.
Keywords: cerebrovascular accident; cholesterol; diet; meta-analysis; stroke.