Identifying Dietary Patterns Associated with Mild Cognitive Impairment in Older Korean Adults Using Reduced Rank Regression.

Dayeon Shin,Yun An,Kyung Lee,Mi-Hye Kim,Hae-Kyung Chung,Hung Kim

doi:10.3390/ijerph15010100

Abstract

Diet plays a crucial role in cognitive function. Few studies have examined the relationship between dietary patterns and cognitive functions of older adults in the Korean population. This study aimed to identify the effect of dietary patterns on the risk of mild cognitive impairment. A total of 239 participants, including 88 men and 151 women, aged 65 years and older were selected from health centers in the district of Seoul, Gyeonggi province, and Incheon, in Korea. Dietary patterns were determined using Reduced Rank Regression (RRR) methods with responses regarding vitamin B6, vitamin C, and iron intakes, based on both a one-day 24-h recall and a food frequency questionnaire. Cognitive function was assessed using the Korean-Mini Mental State Examination (K-MMSE). Multivariable logistic regression models were used to estimate the association between dietary pattern score and the risk of mild cognitive impairment. A total of 20 (8%) out of the 239 participants had mild cognitive impairment. Three dietary patterns were identified: seafood and vegetables, high meat, and bread, ham, and alcohol. Among the three dietary patterns, the older adult population who adhered to the seafood and vegetables pattern, characterized by high intake of seafood, vegetables, fruits, bread, snacks, soy products, beans, chicken, pork, ham, egg, and milk had a decreased risk of mild cognitive impairment compared to those who did not (adjusted odds ratios 0.06, 95% confidence interval 0.01–0.72) after controlling for gender, supplementation, education, history of dementia, physical activity, body mass index (BMI), and duration of sleep. The other two dietary patterns were not significantly associated with the risk of mild cognitive impairment. In conclusion, high consumption of fruits, vegetables, seafood, and protein foods was significantly associated with reduced mild cognitive impairment in older Korean adults. These results can contribute to the establishment of dietary guidelines targeting older Korean adults to reduce mild cognitive impairments. Future prospective cohort studies are warranted to examine the effect of the seafood and vegetable dietary pattern on reducing mild cognitive impairment to prove the cause–effect relationship between dietary patterns and cognitive function.

Highlights

The number of older adults has rapidly risen worldwide, and cognitive decline is one of the major issues in older adults, associated with adverse health effects such as an increased risk for mortality [1], depressive symptoms [2], and metabolic syndrome [3]
Daily supplement use, education, self-reported health, tooth conditions, physical activity, age, body mass index (BMI), and sleep duration significantly differ with cognitive function status (p value < 0.05)
The seafood and vegetables dietary pattern was significantly associated with reduced mild cognitive impairment in older Korean adults

Summary

Introduction

The number of older adults has rapidly risen worldwide, and cognitive decline is one of the major issues in older adults, associated with adverse health effects such as an increased risk for mortality [1], depressive symptoms [2], and metabolic syndrome [3]. Some studies have investigated dietary patterns associated with cognitive functions in older Asian adults, including Korean [5,6] and Japanese [7] populations. Two major dietary patterns were identified in an older Korean adult population. To extract dietary patterns in these studies, empirical data-driven approaches, including principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis, were used to input food or nutrient groups as predictors. The reduced rank regression (RRR) approach was used to input both food groups and responses, such as biomarkers and nutrients, as predictors that are known to be associated with disease. Because Korea has distinct and traditional dietary patterns and cultures [13] compared to other Asia or western countries, identifying specific dietary patterns of the older Korean adult population is required

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