Table 4

Medication use by number of self-reported illnesses or conditions and diet group of participants in the EPIC-Oxford study*

Number of self-reported illnesses or conditions/diet group	Participants, n†	Percentage taking any medication†	Prevalence ratio (95% CI)†
Any number‡
Meat eaters	18 155	56.2	1.00 (ref)
Fish eaters	5012	42.0	0.92 (0.87 to 0.96)
Vegetarians	7179	39.4	0.93 (0.89 to 0.98)
Vegans	914	27.9	0.71 (0.63 to 0.81)
			P heterogeneity <0.0001
None
Meat eaters	4455	16.9	1.00 (ref)
Fish eaters	1635	11.9	0.80 (0.68 to 0.94)
Vegetarians	2603	11.5	0.80 (0.70 to 0.92)
Vegans	344	6.1	0.47 (0.30 to 0.72)
			P heterogeneity <0.0001
One
Meat eaters	4724	48.9	1.00 (ref)
Fish eaters	1472	39.1	0.87 (0.80 to 0.96)
Vegetarians	2170	40.5	0.91 (0.84 to 0.99)
Vegans	291	29.2	0.69 (0.55 to 0.85)
			P heterogeneity=0.0002
Two
Meat eaters	3682	66.9	1.00 (ref)
Fish eaters	906	58.8	0.94 (0.86 to 1.04)
Vegetarians	1261	58.1	0.97 (0.89 to 1.06)
Vegans	154	42.2	0.74 (0.58 to 0.95)
			P heterogeneity=0.082
Three
Meat eaters	2404	82.6	1.00 (ref)
Fish eaters	524	74.0	0.94 (0.84 to 1.05)
Vegetarians	630	73.0	0.94 (0.84 to 1.04)
Vegans	74	59.5	0.78 (0.57 to 1.05)
			P heterogeneity=0.22
Four or more
Meat eaters	2890	93.0	1.00 (ref)
Fish eaters	475	86.9	0.96 (0.86 to 1.06)
Vegetarians	515	88.9	0.98 (0.89 to 1.09)
Vegans	51	78.4	0.87 (0.63 to 1.19)
			P heterogeneity=0.70

*Refers to medication use for most of the past 4 weeks on the second (10-year) follow-up questionnaire, excluding hormone replacement therapy and contraceptive pills.
†Number of participants and percentage taking any medication were as observed. Prevalence ratios were adjusted for the cross-classification of sex and age at follow-up (<40, 40–44, 45–49, 50–54, 55–59, 60–64, 65–69, 70–74, ≥75 years), region of residence (eight regions) and self-reported current health (excellent, good, fair, poor, unknown).
‡Prevalence ratios for this category were further adjusted for the number of self-reported illnesses or conditions (0, 1, 2, 3, ≥4).