Effects of Eicosapentaenoic Acid vs Eicosapentaenoic/Docosahexaenoic Acids on Cardiovascular Mortality: Meta-Analysis of Clinical Trials
Authors' conclusion
EPA lowered incident CVD-attributable mortality in RCTs investigating its use for primary or secondary CVD prevention. Relative to EPA, benefits reported with EPA/DHA were attenuated.
Study context
- Population
- Patients in randomized clinical trial (RCTs) of n-3 PUFAs for primary or secondary cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention
- Participants
- 127,771 patients · 16 RCTs
- Comparison
- Purified eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) vs EPA/DHA vs standard preventive therapy
- Outcome
- CVD-attributable mortality
- Follow-up
- Median 3.7 years (IQR: 2.7-5.0 years)
Methodological detailsrandom effects, prespecified protocol
- Random effects
- Prespecified protocol
Pooled result
As reported in the abstract
Each group vs standard preventive therapyHazard ratio (95% CI)P value
EPA
0.79(0.67–0.94)
P = 0.006EPA/DHA
0.92(0.84–1.00)
P = 0.044Original publication
Effects of Eicosapentaenoic Acid vs Eicosapentaenoic/Docosahexaenoic Acids on Cardiovascular Mortality: Meta-Analysis of Clinical Trials. JACC Adv. Published 19 September 2025. doi:10.
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it