title: DESCRIPTION OF INDEXES BASED ON THE ADHERENCE TO THE MEDITERRANEAN DIETARY PATTERN: A REVIEW.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  diet quality indexes are tools are aimed at quantifying the compliance to a defined dietary pattern. These indexes are a combined measure of dietary factors (food groups, foods, nutrients and ratios) and/ or lifestyles factors. The Mediterranean Diet (MD) is a dietary pattern characterized by their positive effects against chronic diseases. There have been many indexes proposed for the assessment of this dietary pattern. An evaluation of their composition and health benefits is therefore convenient.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  the objective is to evaluate indexes of adherence to the MD with regard to their definition, methodological issues and validation as reported in epidemiological studies.
  
  
  METHODS
  we searched in PubMed for studies that developed MD Indexes up to October 2014.
  
  
  RESULTS
  a total number of 22 indexes were identified, with differences regarding the number of components (7-28), scoring (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 or 10, in case of compliance), range (0-100) and type of components (which could be food groups/foods or their combination, with nutrients). Among the positive components, fruits and vegetables were the most common and meats, among the negative components. There were also differences with regard to their composition and evaluation (e.g. criteria of moderate alcohol consumption), as well as with the scoring system (in medians, terciles or established servings).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  this review suggests that since there is great heterogeneity in the definition of MD. It would be therefore convenient to establish more clearly the components to be included and to establish commonly defined criteria to quantify this dietary pattern.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Nutrición y Bromatología. Facultad de Farmacia. Universidad de Granada. Programa de Doctorado en Nutrición y Ciencia de los Alimentos. Universidad de Granada.. belenv@ugr.es.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hernández-Ruiz
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Nutrición y Bromatología. Facultad de Farmacia. Universidad de Granada.. belenv@ugr.es.
authors.forename: Belén
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: García-Villanova
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Nutrición y Bromatología. Facultad de Farmacia. Universidad de Granada.. belenv@ugr.es.
authors.forename: Eduardo J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Guerra Hernández
authors.affiliation: Public Health Division of Gipuzkoa, Biodonostia Research Institute, Health Department, San Sebastian. CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública, CIBERESP, Madrid.. belenv@ugr.es.
authors.forename: Pilar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Amiano
authors.affiliation: Public Health Division of Gipuzkoa, Biodonostia Research Institute, Health Department, San Sebastian.. belenv@ugr.es.
authors.forename: Mikel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Azpiri
authors.affiliation: CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública, CIBERESP, Madrid. Escuela Andaluza de Salud Pública. Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria ibs.GRANADA. Hospitales Universitarios de Granada/Universidad de Granada (Granada), España.. belenv@ugr.es.
authors.forename: Esther
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Molina-Montes
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D038441:Diet, Mediterranean / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019983:Guideline Adherence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans