Adherence to dietary guidelines and the 10-year cumulative incidence of visual impairment: the Blue Mountains Eye Study.
OBJECTIVE
To assess whether adherence to dietary guidelines at baseline is associated with the incidence of visual impairment among older persons after 10 years.


METHODS
A population-based cohort of 3654 participants of the Blue Mountains Eye Study were examined at baseline and were reexamined after 5 and 10 years.


METHODS
The incidence of visual impairment was defined as best-corrected visual acuity (VA)<20/40 at follow-up in 1 or both eyes. Dietary information was obtained at baseline using a validated food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Total Diet Score (TDS) was calculated based on the Australian diet quality index. TDS includes components of diet quality; poor dietary habits; and energy balance. Discrete logistic regression models with time-dependant outcome variables were used to calculate hazard risk ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) associated with incidence of visual impairment for each unit/quartile increase in TDS, adjusting for potential confounders.


RESULTS
Of the 3654 baseline participants, 1963 had up to 10 years follow-up with completed FFQs. With each unit increase in TDS, the risk of visual impairment decreased (HR 0.94, 95% CI 0.88-1.00). The risk of developing visual impairment was lower among persons in the highest compared to the lowest TDS quartile (HR 0.71, 95% CI 0.47-1.05). This association was significant among persons aged 65+ years (HR 0.63, 95% CI 0.38-0.98) but not those aged <65 years (HR 0.95, 95% CI 0.46-1.97).


CONCLUSIONS
Compliance to dietary guidelines was associated with a decreased long-term risk of visual impairment in this sample of Australians aged 65+ years.
Centre for Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology and Westmead Millennium Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
Thomas
T
Hong
Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia; St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney, Australia.
Victoria
V
Flood
Centre for Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology and Westmead Millennium Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
Elena
E
Rochtchina
Centre for Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology and Westmead Millennium Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
Paul
P
Mitchell
School of Health & Society, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia.
Joanna
J
Russell
Centre for Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology and Westmead Millennium Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia; Centre for Eye Research Australia, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia. Electronic address: jiejin.wang@sydney.edu.au.
Jie Jin
JJ
Wang
D000368:Aged; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D005260:Female; D005544:Forecasting; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009517:New South Wales / Q000453:epidemiology; D018673:Nutrition Policy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000178:diet therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D014792:Visual Acuity; D019987:Persons with Visual Disabilities / Q000534:rehabilitation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*