Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017;21(5):505-513.
doi: 10.1007/s12603-016-0808-9.

Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet and All-Cause Mortality Risk in an Elderly Italian Population: Data from the ILSA Study

F Limongi  1 , M Noale, A Gesmundo, G Crepaldi, S Maggi
Affiliations

Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet and All-Cause Mortality Risk in an Elderly Italian Population: Data from the ILSA Study

F Limongi et al. J Nutr Health Aging. 2017.

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate adherence to the Mediterranean Diet (MD) and its association with all-cause mortality in an elderly Italian population.

Design: Data analysis of a longitudinal study of a representative, age stratified, population sample.

Setting: Study data is based upon the Italian Longitudinal Study on Aging (ILSA) a prospective, community-based cohort study. The baseline evaluation was carried out in 1992 and the follow-up in 1996 and 2000.

Participant: Participant food intake assessment was available at baseline for 4,232 subjects; information on survival was available for 2,665 at the 2000 follow-up.

Measurements: Adherence to the MD was evaluated with an a priori score based on the Mediterranean pyramid components. Cox proportional hazard models were used to assess the relationship between the MD score and all-cause mortality. Six hundred and sixty five subjects had died at the second follow-up (identified up to the first and second follow-up together; mean follow-up: 7.1±2.6 years).

Results: At the 2000 follow-up, adjusting for other confounding factors, participants with a high adherence to MD (highest tertile of the MD score distribution) had an all-cause mortality risk that was of 34% lower with respect to the subjects with low adherence (Hazard Ratio=0.66; 95% CI: 0.49-0.90; p=0.0144).

Conclusion: According to study results, a higher adherence to the MD was associated with a low all-cause mortality risk in an elderly Italian population.

Keywords: ILSA study; Mediterranean diet adherence; all-cause mortality; elderly subjects.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

None of the authors has any conflicts of interest to declare

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Algorithm of the allocations of subjects in the study: those in the white boxes were included in the analyses whereas those in the gray boxes were not. ILSA, Italian Longitudinal Study on Aging
None
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Keys A., Menotti A., Karvonen M.J., et al. The diet and 15-year death rate in the seven countries study. Am J Epidemiol. 1986;124(6):903–915. 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a114480 PubMed PMID: 3776973. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Trichopoulou A., Martínez-González M.A., Tong T.Y., Forouhi N.G., Khandelwal S., Prabhakaran D., Mozaffarian D., de Lorgeril M.Serra-Majem L., Roman B., Estruch R. Definitions and potential health benefits of the Mediterranean diet: views from experts around the world. BMC Med. 2014;24(12):112. 10.1186/1741-7015-12-112 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Martinez-Gonzalez M.A., Bes-Rastrollo M. Dietary patterns, Mediterranean diet, and cardiovascular disease. Curr Opin Lipidol. 2014;25(1):20–26. 10.1097/MOL.0000000000000044 PubMed PMID: 24370845. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Martinez-Gonzalez M.A., Bes-Rastrollo M., Serra-Majem L., et al. Mediterranean food pattern and the primary prevention of chronic disease: recent developments. Nutr Rev. 2009;67(1):S111–S116. 10.1111/j.1753-4887.2009.00172.x PubMed PMID: 19453663. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Sofi F., Macchi C., Abbate R., et al. Mediterranean diet and health. Biofactors. 2013;39(4):335–342. 10.1002/biof.1096 PubMed PMID: 23553669. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources