title: Adherence to dietary guidelines and 15-year risk of all-cause mortality.
abstract: Past investigation of diet in relation to disease or mortality has tended to focus on individual nutrients. However, there has been a recent shift to now focus on overall patterns of food intake. The present study aims to investigate the relationship between diet quality reflecting adherence to dietary guidelines and mortality in a sample of older Australians, and to report on the relationship between core food groups and diet quality. This was a population-based cohort study of persons aged 49 years or older at baseline, living in two postcode areas west of Sydney, Australia. Baseline dietary data were collected during 1992-4, from 2897 people using a 145-item Willett-derived FFQ. A modified version of the Healthy Eating Index for Australians was developed to determine diet quality scores. The Australian National Death Index provided 15-year mortality data using multiple data linkage steps. Hazard risk (HR) ratios and 95 % CI for mortality were assessed for diet quality. Subjects in quintile 5 (highest) of the Total Diet Score had a 21 % reduced risk of all-cause mortality (HR 0·79, 95 % CI 0·63, 0·98, P(trend)=0·04) compared with those in quintile 1 (lowest) after multivariate adjustment. The present study provides longitudinal support for a reduced risk of all-cause mortality in an older population who have greater compliance with published dietary guidelines.
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia.
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Russell
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia.
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Flood
authors.affiliation: Centre for Vision Research (Westmead Millennium Institute), University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rochtchina
authors.affiliation: Centre for Vision Research (Westmead Millennium Institute), University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
authors.forename: Bamini
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gopinath
authors.affiliation: School of Molecular Bioscience, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Allman-Farinelli
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bauman
authors.affiliation: Centre for Vision Research (Westmead Millennium Institute), University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mitchell
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004032:Diet / Q000009:adverse effects; D005260:Female; D063427:Food Quality; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009026:Mortality; D009043:Motor Activity; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control*; D009517:New South Wales / Q000453:epidemiology; D018673:Nutrition Policy; D010349:Patient Compliance; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models