Abstract
Dietary pattern analysis is an alternative approach investigating the association between diet and atherosclerosis. This study examined the association of dietary patterns with prevalent atherosclerosis in community-dwelling men older than 65 years. We used data from the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men (MrOS) Hong Kong (HK) cohort (N=1768) and MrOS US cohort (N=5006). Diet was assessed with country-specific food frequency questionnaire. Principal component analysis identified three a posterior dietary patterns: “vegetables-fruits dominated”, “dim sum-meat-fish dominated”, and “fast foods dominated” in HK site and two patterns: “vegetables-fruits-fish-poultry dominated” and “fast foods-red meat dominated” in US site. Ankle–brachial index (ABI) was measured and a cut-off value of <0.9 was used to define prevalent atherosclerosis. Multiple logistic regression was used to assess the association between dietary patterns and ABI controlling for demographic, socio-demographic and lifestyle variables, and comorbidities. There were 5% and 6.2% MrOS HK and US men with ABI <0.9 respectively (p=0.06). In HK site, men in the highest quartile of “vegetables-fruits dominated” pattern score [age and BMI adjusted OR=0.50 (95% CI: 0.26–0.96), ptrend=0.03] showed lower likelihood of having an ABI <0.9 compared to men in the lowest quartile. In US site, men in the higher quartile of “vegetables-fruits-fish-poultry dominated” pattern score was associated with lower odds of having an ABI <0.9 [age and BMI adjusted OR=0.59 (95% CI: 0.42–0.83), ptrend=0.005]. The associations were attenuated and no longer statistically significant in the fully adjusted models. There was no statistically significant association between other pattern scores and ABI category in either cohort.