Dietary patterns associated with fall-related fracture in elderly Japanese: a population based prospective study.
BACKGROUND
Diet is considered an important factor for bone health, but is composed of a wide variety of foods containing complex combinations of nutrients. Therefore we investigated the relationship between dietary patterns and fall-related fractures in the elderly.


METHODS
We designed a population-based prospective survey of 1178 elderly people in Japan in 2002. Dietary intake was assessed with a 75-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), from which dietary patterns were created by factor analysis from 27 food groups. The frequency of fall-related fracture was investigated based on insurance claim records from 2002 until 2006. The relationship between the incidence of fall-related fracture and modifiable factors, including dietary patterns, were examined. The Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to examine the relationships between dietary patterns and incidence of fall-related fracture with adjustment for age, gender, Body Mass Index (BMI) and energy intake.


RESULTS
Among 877 participants who agreed to a 4 year follow-up, 28 suffered from a fall-related fracture. Three dietary patterns were identified: mainly vegetable, mainly meat and mainly traditional Japanese. The moderately confirmed (see statistical methods) groups with a Meat pattern showed a reduced risk of fall-related fracture (Hazard ratio = 0.36, 95% CI = 0.13 - 0.94) after adjustment for age, gender, BMI and energy intake. The Vegetable pattern showed a significant risk increase (Hazard ratio = 2.67, 95% CI = 1.03 - 6.90) after adjustment for age, gender and BMI. The Traditional Japanese pattern had no relationship to the risk of fall-related fracture.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study have the potential to reduce fall-related fracture risk in elderly Japanese. The results should be interpreted in light of the overall low meat intake of the Japanese population.
Monma
Yasutake
Y
Center for Asian Traditional Medicine, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan. QFG03604@nifty.com
Niu
Kaijun
K
Iwasaki
Koh
K
Tomita
Naoki
N
Nakaya
Naoki
N
Hozawa
Atsushi
A
Kuriyama
Shinichi
S
Takayama
Shin
S
Seki
Takashi
T
Takeda
Takashi
T
Yaegashi
Nobuo
N
Ebihara
Satoru
S
Arai
Hiroyuki
H
Nagatomi
Ryoichi
R
Tsuji
Ichiro
I
D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000517:prevention & control; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D044466:Asian People / Q000208:ethnology*; D004032:Diet / Q000208:ethnology*; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D050723:Fractures, Bone / Q000178:diet therapy* / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008460:Meat; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D014675:Vegetables