title: Association of dietary factors with cognitive impairment in older women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the association between dietary factors and cognitive impairment in older Korean women living in the community.
  
  
  METHODS
  Wave 2 data, from the Suwon Longitudinal Aging Study (SLAS), of 365 women aged 65 years or over, were used. The Korean version of the 30-point Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE-K) was used to assess cognitive impairment (score< = or19). Dietary habits and frequencies of food group consumption were also examined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 67 women (18.4%) were found to be cognitively impaired. In bivariate analyses, nondietary factors, such as age, marital status, education, income, self-rated health, depression, emotional support, social activity, exercise, and dietary factors, such as self-rated nutritional status, frequency of beans and bean products and milk and dairy products consumption were associated with cognitive impairment. In the multivariate analysis, a higher frequency ( > = or 1 vs. < 1 time/day) of beans and bean products (OR=0.48, 95% CI: 0.23-0.99) and milk and dairy products (OR=0.25, 95% CI: 0.10-0.61) consumption was inversely associated with cognitive impairment, after adjustment for non-dietary factors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that dietary factors may play a significant role in cognitive impairment of older Korean women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Ajou University School of Medicine, Korea. yhlee@ajou.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Jin Hee
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Ajou University School of Medicine, Korea. yhlee@ajou.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Yunhwan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Ajou University School of Medicine, Korea. yhlee@ajou.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Geunshik
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Han
keywords: Aged; Cognition; Diet; Women