Dietary patterns predict mortality in a national cohort: the National Health Interview Surveys, 1987 and 1992

Abstract

We examined the association of mortality and dietary patterns using data from the National Health Interview Surveys of 1987 and 1992 (n = 10,084), aged >/=45 y at baseline (with 2287 deaths due to all causes over 5.9 median years of follow-up). The approximately 60-item FFQ administered at baseline was examined for mentions of foods and dietary behaviors recommended in current dietary guidance (fruits, vegetables, lean poultry and alternates, low-fat dairy, and whole grains), and the resulting patterns were expressed as follows: 1) a Recommended Foods and Behavior Score (RFBS), 2) factor scores from factor analysis, and 3) clusters from cluster analysis. The multivariate-adjusted relative risk (RR) of mortality for each of the 3 types of dietary patterns was examined using Cox proportional hazards regression analysis. In men, RR of all-cause mortality was 0.72 (95% CI: 0.56, 0.92, P for trend < 0.001) for RFBS, and 0.74 (95% CI: 0.57, 0.95, P for trend = 0.002) for the fruit-vegetable-whole grain factor score when comparing extreme quartiles. Membership in 1 of the 4 clusters also was associated with lower risk in men (RR = 0.82, 95% CI: 0.66, 1.01). For women, the RFBS was a modest inverse predictor of mortality after multivariate adjustment (RR = 0.80, 95% CI: 0.61, 1.04, P for trend = 0.04), but estimates for factor and cluster patterns were attenuated. The population-attributable fraction due to diet was 0.16 in men and 0.09 in women. Dietary patterns characterized by compliance with prevailing food-based dietary guidance were associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality.