ABSTRACT

Objectives:
Atrial fibrillation (AF) has a high prevalence and a heavy healthcare burden, making prevention of AF essential. Coffee and tea are popular beverages around the world, and they may have a relationship with AF, but the results are controversial. This study aimed to investigate the relationship of coffee and tea intake with the risk of AF.

Methods:
This study included 495,269 participants without AF at baseline from the UK Biobank. Coffee and tea intake was self-reported (0, 0.5-1, 2-3, ≥ 4 cups/day). Cox regression was used to estimate hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals.

Results:
During a median follow-up of 13.04 ± 2.26 years, 37,261 participants developed AF. The associations of coffee and tea with AF were non-linear (P for non-linear < 0.001). Compared with non-drinkers, drinking 0.5-1, 2-3, and ≥ 4 cups of coffee per day was associated with a protective effect against AF, corresponding to a 7, 11, and 9% lower risk, respectively. For tea, only consumption of 2-3 cups per day was associated with a modestly lower risk of AF, whereas no significant associations were observed for other intake categories.

Conclusions:
We found that coffee intake was inversely associated with incident AF across multiple intake categories, whereas for tea, a modest inverse association was observed only at 2-3 cups per day, with no statistically significant associations for other intake categories. Further studies are warranted to confirm our findings and clarify the potential mechanism.

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