Cross-Sectional, Short-, Medium-, and Long-Term Effects of Dietary Pattern on Frailty in Taiwan.

Mei-Huey Shiau,Baai-Shyun Hurng,Meng-Chih Lee,Fang-Ling Lin,Chih-Jung Yeh

doi:10.3390/ijerph18189717

Abstract

This study examined the association between dietary patterns and the development of frailty during 4-, 8-, 12-year follow-up periods in the population-based Taiwan Study. We used the data of an elderly population aged 53 years and over (n = 3486) from four waves of the Taiwan Longitudinal Study on Aging. Frailty was identified by using the modified Fried criteria and the values were summed to derive a frailty score. We applied reduced rank regression to determine dietary patterns, which were divided into tertiles (healthy, general, and unhealthy dietary pattern). We used multinomial logistic regression models to assess the association between dietary patterns and the risk of frailty. The healthy dietary pattern was characterized by a higher intake of antioxidant drinks (tea), energy-rich foods (carbohydrates, e.g., rice, noodles), protein-rich foods (fish, meat, seafood, and eggs), and phytonutrient-rich foods (fruit and dark green vegetables). Compared with the healthy pattern, the unhealthy dietary pattern showed significant cross-sectional, short-term, medium-term, and long-term associations with a higher prevalence of frailty (odds ratios (OR) 2.74; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.94–3.87, OR 2.55; 95% CI 1.67–3.88, OR 1.66; 95% CI 1.07–2.57, and OR 2.35; 95% CI 1.27–4.34, respectively). Our findings support recommendations to increase the intake of antioxidant drinks, energy-rich foods, protein-rich foods, and phytonutrient-rich foods, which were associated with a non-frail status. This healthy dietary pattern can help prevent frailty over time in elderly people.

Highlights

This study identified dietary patterns using rank regression (RRR), which reduces the dimension of predictor variables and maximizes the variation explained by the response variable
Because most results were similar between the sexes, we only report the associations between dietary patterns and frailty status for the entire study population
On the basis of RRR scores of the first dietary pattern, we divided continuous dietary patterns into three tertiles: The first tertile comprised those with low scores, the second tertile comprised those with intermediate scores, and the third tertile comprised those with high scores

Summary

Introduction

Fried et al defined the most frequently used criteria for identifying physical frailty; they implemented a standardized five-item index for determining frailty status, and the five items are as follows: unintentional weight loss, exhaustion, low physical activity, slowness, and low grip strength [1]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion