Association between Dietary Patterns and Cardiovascular Risk Factors among Middle-Aged and Elderly Adults in Taiwan: A Population-Based Study from 2003 to 2012

<div><p>Background</p><p>Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the leading causes of mortality and loss of disability-adjusted life years in developed countries. This study derived a dietary pattern using an <i>a priori</i> method and additionally derived dietary patterns using <i>a posteriori</i> methods, and assessed the relationship with CVD risk factors in Taiwanese middle-aged and elderly adults.</p><p>Methods</p><p>Cross-sectional analyses of 62,965 subjects aged 40 years and above from the Mei Jau (MJ) database collected between 2003 and 2012 in Taiwan. Diet was assessed using a 22 item semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Using this information, three dietary patterns were generated. The <i>a priori</i> diet was labeled the Taiwanese dietary pattern and was derived using hypothesized effect of 22 food groups, while two <i>a posteriori</i> dietary patterns, “vegi-fruits” and “meat-processed”, were derived using principal component analysis. The association between dietary patterns and a range of CVD risk factors (i.e. blood lipids, blood glucose and C-reactive protein) was evaluated using linear regression.</p><p>Results</p><p>The results showed that high intake (Q5, quintile 5) of Taiwanese diet was negatively associated with CVD risk factors at (<i>p</i> < 0.001, model 3), but not with triacylglycerol. In addition, high intake of vegi-fruit dietary pattern (Q5) was negatively associated with CVD risk factors (<i>p</i> < 0.001), but not with high-density lipoprotein, while high consumption of meat-processed dietary pattern (Q5) was positively associated with CVD risk factors (<i>p</i> < 0.001), but negatively related with triacylglycerol in Q3 level and no association with C-reactive protein.</p><p>Conclusion</p><p>A negative association was observed between Taiwanese or vegi-fruit dietary patterns and CVD risk factors, while a positive association was found between meat-processed dietary pattern and CVD risk factors. The findings suggested that a diet rich in vegetables and fruits has a beneficial effect in the management of CVD risk factors.</p>