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Meta-Analysis
. 2024 Nov 19;16(22):3947.
doi: 10.3390/nu16223947.

Mediterranean Diet in Older Adults: Cardiovascular Outcomes and Mortality from Observational and Interventional Studies-A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Michela Furbatto  1 , Diana Lelli  2 , Raffaele Antonelli Incalzi  3   4 , Claudio Pedone  1   2
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Mediterranean Diet in Older Adults: Cardiovascular Outcomes and Mortality from Observational and Interventional Studies-A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Michela Furbatto et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Background/objectives: there is conflicting evidence on the role of the Mediterranean Diet (MD) in reducing the risk of long-term outcomes in older adults. The aim of our study was to assess the effectiveness of high adherence to MD in reducing all-cause mortality and cardiovascular outcomes among older adults.

Methods: PubMed database was searched up to 31 May 2023. We included randomized controlled trials (RCT) and cohort studies in the English language which evaluated the Mediterranean diet's adherence to exposure on a population with a mean age > 60 years. The main outcomes were cardiovascular fatal and non-fatal events, and all-cause mortality. A sub-analysis on individuals > 70 years old was conducted. Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (MOOSE) and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were used for assessing data quality and validity. Pooled data were obtained by using random-effects models.

Results: a total of 28 studies were included in this meta-analysis (26 observational studies and 2 randomized trials), reporting a total of 679,259 participants from different continents. Our results showed that high adherence to the MD reduces all-cause mortality risk by 23% (95% CI: 0.70-0.83), while it decreases the risk of cardiovascular mortality by 27% (95% CI: 0.64-0.84) and that of non-fatal cardiovascular events by 23% (95% CI: 0.55-1.01).

Conclusions: MD is a promising dietary pattern for promoting health among older adults, as it is associated with reduced risks of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, and non-fatal cardiovascular events. Adopting a Mediterranean Diet may contribute to better overall health and a lower likelihood of cardiovascular-related health issues in older individuals.

Keywords: cardiovascular disease; mediterranean diet; mortality.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram of study selection.
Figure 2
Figure 2
MD adherence and all-cause mortality. Adherence to MD is associated with a reduced all-cause mortality risk [9,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,51]. -1 and -2 indicate two arms of the same study.
Figure 3
Figure 3
MD adherence and overall cardiovascular events. MD adherence is associated with a reduced risk in overall cardiovascular events [9,23,29,30,37,41,43,45,46,47,48,49,50,51,52]. -1,-2, -3, and -4 indicate different arms of the same study.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Adherence to MD and cardiovascular mortality. MD adherence is associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular mortality [23,29,36,37,41,43,47,48,49]. -1 and -2 indicate two arms of the same study.
Figure 5
Figure 5
MD adherence and cardiovascular non-fatal events. MD adherence is associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular non-fatal events [9,30,37,45,48,50,52]. -1 and -2 indicate two arms of the same study.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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