title: Dietary habits and risk of ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligaments of the spine (OPLL); findings from a case-control study in Japan.
abstract: The relation between dietary habits and the risk of ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligaments of the spine (OPLL) was investigated in a case-control study conducted in Japan from 1998 to 2001. Prevalent OPLL cases (n = 69) were identified and individually matched by age and sex with community controls (n = 138) randomly selected from the general population in Hokkaido. A self-administered food-frequency questionnaire was used to assess habitual dietary intake. The odds ratio (OR) and its 95% confidence interval (CI) were estimated, using conditional logistic regression models to compute the OR adjusted for a history of diabetes mellitus. We found that frequent consumption of pickles (salted products) was significantly associated with an increased risk of OPLL, with an adjusted OR of 1.6 (95% CI, 1.1 to 2.2). The adjusted OR for nondaily consumers of rice was 3.0 (95% CI, 2.4 to 3.7). Frequent consumption of chicken (adjusted OR, 0.5; 95% CI, 0.3 to 0.98) and soy foods (adjusted OR, 0.4; 95% CI, 0.2 to 0.7) was significantly associated with a decreased risk of OPLL. Our findings suggest that dietary habits may constitute independent risk factors for OPLL. Further studies will be needed to prospectively determine the relationship between dietary habits and OPLL risk.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Aichi Prefectural College of Nursing and Health, Nagoya, Togoku, Kamishidami, Moriyama-ku, Japan. okamoto@aichi-nurs.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Kazushi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Okamoto
authors.forename: Gen
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kobashi
authors.forename: Masakazu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Washio
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.forename: Tetsuji
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yokoyama
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Miyake
authors.forename: Naomasa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sakamoto
authors.forename: Kaori
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ohta
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Inaba
authors.forename: Heizo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tanaka
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004032:Diet; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017887:Ossification of Posterior Longitudinal Ligament / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors