Dietary quality of elderly people at high risk of stroke in Tianjin Community, China: a multicenter study

Abstract

Abstract Background Stroke is a common and frequently-occurring disease in elderly people. It has the characteristics of high morbidity, high mortality, high recurrence rate and high disability rate. Most stroke risk studies are based on pathophysiology, however psychosocial factors such as diet quality are often understudied. The aim of this study was to assess stroke risk in urban community residents in Tianjin and investigate the impact of diet quality on stroke risk. Methods Using a cross-sectional, multicenter study, recruit people aged 60 to 80 in Tianjin. Dietary intake data were obtainedthrough a validated food frequencyquestionnaire, which were used to calculate Alternate Healthy Eating Index-2010 (AHEI-2010) and to analyzeits association with sociodemographic, stroke risk factors and health marker variables. Results A total of 1068 participants were recruited, including 300 low-risk groups and 768 high-risk groups. Compared with the low-risk group (62.75 ± 3.59), the AHEI-2010 mean score of the high-risk group (56.83 ± 6.54) was significantly lower. The top three most common risk factors among participants were dyslipidemia (80.3%), hypertension (60.6%), and physical inactivity (58.2%). Multiple logistic regression showed that diet quality was independently and significantly associated with stroke risk (OR = 0.765; 95% CI: 0.690–0.848, p < 0.001). Conclusion The diet quality of high-risk stroke population in Tianjin is far from ideal. At the same time, public health knowledge needs to be disseminated and educated, especially among those at high risk of cerebrovascular disease, with a focus on improving psychosocial factors such as diet quality.