Lifestyle and risk of Alzheimer's disease: a case-control study

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the relationship between lifestyle and development of Alzheimer's disease(AD). Methods Two hundred and thirty-eight AD patients(102 males and 136 females) and 476 healthy controls(204 males and 272 females) were recruited from Ningbo communities into this 1: 2 matched case-control study. Mini-Mental State Examination(MMSE) and Clinical Dementia Rating(CDR) were required to fill in. Chi-square test and conditional logistic regression were used for data analysis. We adopted Epidata 3.1 to establish the database and did statistical analysis by SPSS15.0. The count data were analysis by Chi-square test, meanwhile multiple factors analysis by conditional Logistic regression analysis. Results Through single factor analysis we found thatcigarette ≥20 /day(F=8.687, P=0.003),children visiting(F=22.721, P<0.05), friendship(F=16.784, P<0.05), family gathering (≥1 times/week)(F=8.198, P= 0.004),working after retirement(F=33.099, P<0.05), travel(F=16.784, P<0.05), social activities(F=24.919, P<0.05),physical exercises(F=24.404, P<0.05), eating pickles or pickled products(F=6.662, P=0.01), saturated fatty acid intake(F=23.069, P<0.05), daily consumption of fruits and vegetables(F=8.401, P= 0.004), chess(F=17.365, P<0.05), reading(≥30 min/d) (F=36.390, P<0.05), using computer(F=8.688, P= 0.003) were related AD, the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05). In multiple factors analysis, social activities, chess games or joke, travelling, working after retirement, reading, physical exercises, friendship, family gathering, saturated fatty acid intake and daily consumption of fruits and vegetables were risk factors of AD(odds ratio(OR) values were 0.571(0.342-0.753), 0.623(0.343-0.889), 0.686(0.461-0.942), 0.534(0.326-0.714), 0.276(0.175-0.438), 0.538(0.336-0.738), 0.585(0.385-0.765), 0.466(0.316-0.745), 0.527(0.368-0.787) and 0.482(0.316-0.665), respectively; constant terms: OR=0.526). Conclusion A positive and leisure lifestyle and health reasonable diet could effectively reduce the risk of AD. Key words: Alzheimer's disease; Risk factors; Lifestyle; Diet