Table 1.
Characteristics of participants at the first dietary assessment, according to tertiles of the MIND diet score (n=578).
| Characteristic | All | MIND score | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| ||||
| Tertile 1 [3.5–7] (n=239) | Tertile 2 [7–8.5] (n=197) | Tertile 3 [8.5–12] (n=142) | ||
|
| ||||
| Female, No. (%) | 417 (72) | 164 (69) | 145 (74) | 108 (76) |
| Age at diet assessment, mean (SD), years | 84.1 (5.8) | 84.1 (6.3) | 84.5 (5.5) | 83.5 (5.2) |
| Age at death, mean (SD), years | 91.4 (6.1) | 90.8 (6.6) | 92.0 (6.0) | 91.5 (5.4) |
| Education, mean (SD), years | 14.9 (2.8) | 14.4 (3.2) | 15.1 (2.7) | 15.4 (2.3) |
| Non-Hispanic white, No. (%) | 568 (98) | 234 (98) | 194 (98) | 140 (99) |
| Smoking status, No. (%) | ||||
| Never | 352 (61) | 147 (62) | 125 (63) | 80 (56) |
| Former | 210 (36) | 80 (33) | 70 (36) | 60 (42) |
| Current | 16 (3) | 12 (5) | 2 (1) | 2 (1) |
| Depressive symptoms, median (IQR) | 1 (0;2) | 1 (0;2) | 1 (0;2) | 0 (0;1) |
| Co-morbidities, median (IQR) | 2 (1;2) | 2 (1;3) | 2 (1;2) | 2 (1;3) |
| Co-morbidities, No. (%) | ||||
| Diabetes | 81 (14) | 42 (18) | 21 (11) | 18 (13) |
| Hypertension | 348 (60) | 149 (62) | 113 (57) | 86 (61) |
| Cancer | 226 (39) | 100 (42) | 70 (36) | 56 (39) |
| Hypothyroidism | 145 (25) | 51 (21) | 54 (27) | 40 (28) |
| Stroke | 77 (13) | 42 (18) | 16 (8) | 19 (13) |
| Heart disease | 66 (11) | 30 (13) | 13 (7) | 23 (16) |
| Head injury with loss of consciousness | 31 (5) | 12 (5) | 9 (5) | 10 (7) |
| Physical activity, mean (SD), hours/week | 2.9 (3.1) | 2.3 (2.5) | 3.0 (3.0) | 3.8 (3.7) |
| Cognitive activity, mean (SD), score | 3.2 (0.7) | 3.1 (0.7) | 3.3 (0.7) | 3.4 (0.6) |
| MIND diet, mean (SD), score | 7.6 (1.6) | 6.1 (0.8) | 8.0 (0.4) | 9.8 (0.8) |
| MIND diet score components | ||||
| Servings/week | ||||
| Green leafy vegetables | 4.4 (3.1) | 3.1 (2.7) | 4.5 (2.6) | 6.5 (3.0) |
| Other vegetables | 16.6 (8.1) | 13.6 (7.4) | 17.6 (7.5) | 20.3 (8.1) |
| Berries | 0.6 (0.6) | 0.4 (0.4) | 0.7 (0.6) | 0.9 (0.7) |
| Fish (not fried) | 1.8 (1.3) | 1.4 (1.2) | 1.9 (1.3) | 2.4 (1.3) |
| Poultry (not fried) | 1.6 (1.5) | 1.0 (1.1) | 1.8 (1.5) | 2.2 (1.5) |
| Beans | 1.4 (1.5) | 0.8 (1.2) | 1.5 (1.5) | 2.1 (1.8) |
| Whole grains | 5.4 (5.1) | 4.2 (3.8) | 5.2 (4.9) | 7.8 (6.4) |
| Nuts | 1.0 (1.3) | 0.7 (0.9) | 1.0 (1.3) | 1.4 (1.5) |
| Red meat and products | 3.7 (2.4) | 4.2 (2.6) | 3.7 (2.3) | 3.1 (2.1) |
| Pastries and sweets | 12.0 (8.6) | 13.6 (9.0) | 11.8 (8.0) | 9.5 (7.9) |
| Fast fried foods | 0.6 (0.8) | 0.9 (1.1) | 0.5 (0.6) | 0.3 (0.6) |
| Full fat cheese | 2.8 (2.9) | 2.9 (3.1) | 2.9 (3.0) | 2.4 (2.1) |
| Butter, margarine | 4.5 (6.9) | 6.3 (8.7) | 3.7 (5.4) | 2.7 (4.5) |
| Wine consumption, g/day | 2.4 (6.4) | 1.2 (5.2) | 2.8 (6.9) | 3.8 (7.4) |
| Frequent use of olive oil at home, % | 179 (31) | 32 (13) | 57 (31) | 90 (63) |
Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index; CR, cognitive resilience; IQR, inter-quartile range; MIND, Mediterranean-Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension diet intervention for neurodegenerative delay; SD, standard deviation.