High Diet Quality Is Associated with a Lower Risk of Cardiovascular Disease and All-Cause Mortality in Older Men
- 30 April 2014
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Elsevier BV in Journal of Nutrition
- Vol. 144 (5), 673-680
- https://doi.org/10.3945/jn.113.186486
Abstract
Although diet quality is implicated in cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, few studies have investigated the relation between diet quality and the risks of CVD and mortality in older adults. This study examined the prospective associations between dietary scores and risk of CVD and all-cause mortality in older British men. A total of 3328 men (aged 60-79 y) from the British Regional Heart Study, free from CVD at baseline, were followed up for 11.3 y for CVD and mortality. Baseline food-frequency questionnaire data were used to generate 2 dietary scores: the Healthy Diet Indicator (HDI), based on WHO dietary guidelines, and the Elderly Dietary Index (EDI), based on a Mediterranean-style dietary intake, with higher scores indicating greater compliance with dietary recommendations. Cox proportional hazards regression analyses assessed associations between quartiles of HDI and EDI and risk of all-cause mortality, CVD mortality, CVD events, and coronary heart disease (CHD) events. During follow-up, 933 deaths, 327 CVD deaths, 582 CVD events, and 307 CHD events occurred. Men in the highest compared with the lowest EDI quartile had significantly lower risks of all-cause mortality (HR: 0.75; 95% CI: 0.60, 0.94; P-trend = 0.03), CVD mortality (HR: 0.63; 95% Cl: 0.42, 0.94; P-trend = 0.03), and CHD events (HR: 0.66; 95% Cl: 0.45, 0.97; P-trend = 0.05) but not CVD events (HR: 0.79; 95% Cl: 0.60, 1.05; P-trend = 0.16) after adjustment for sociodemographic, behavioral, and cardiovascular risk factors. The HDI was not significantly associated with any of the outcomes. The EDI appears to be more useful than the HDI for assessing diet quality in relation to CVD and morality risk in older men. Encouraging older adults to adhere to the guidelines inherent in the EDI criteria may have public health benefits.This publication has 37 references indexed in Scilit:
- Association Between Dietary Quality and Mortality in Older Adults: A Review of the Epidemiological EvidenceJournal of Nutrition in Gerontology and Geriatrics, 2013
- Mediterranean Style Diet and 12-Year Incidence of Cardiovascular Diseases: The EPIC-NL Cohort StudyPLOS ONE, 2012
- Diet Quality Is Associated with All-Cause Mortality in Adults Aged 65 Years and Older3Journal of Nutrition, 2012
- Coronary heart disease prevention: Nutrients, foods, and dietary patternsClinica Chimica Acta; International Journal of Clinical Chemistry, 2011
- Mediterranean and carbohydrate-restricted diets and mortality among elderly men: a cohort study in SwedenThe American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2010
- Dietary habits and cardiovascular disease risk in middle-aged and elderly populations: a review of evidenceClinical Interventions in Aging, 2009
- Dietary assessment in early old age: experience from the Boyd Orr cohortEuropean Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2009
- The effects of different alcoholic drinks on lipids, insulin and haemostatic and inflammatory markers in older menThrombosis and Haemostasis, 2003
- The world health organization monica project (monitoring trends and determinants in cardiovascular disease): A major international collaborationJournal of Clinical Epidemiology, 1988
- British Regional Heart Study: cardiovascular risk factors in middle-aged men in 24 towns.BMJ, 1981