Anti-Inflammatory Diet and Protein-Enriched Diet Can Reduce the Risk of Cognitive Impairment among Older Adults: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Research

Abstract

Background: Cognitive impairment (CI) is a common mental health disorder among older adults, and dietary patterns have an impact on cognitive function. However, no systematic researches have constructed anti-inflammatory diet (AID) and protein-enriched diet (PED) to explore their association with CI among older adults in China. Methods: The data used in this study were obtained from the 2018 waves of the China Longitudinal Health and Longevity Survey (CLHLS). We construct AID, PED, and calculate scores for CI. We use binary logistic regression to explore the relationship between them, and use restrictive cubic splines to determine whether the relationships are non-linear. Subgroup analysis and sensitivity analysis were used to demonstrate the robustness of the results. Results: A total of 8692 participants (mean age is 83.53 years) were included in the analysis. We found that participants with a higher AID (OR = 0.789, 95% confidence interval: 0.740–0.842, p < 0.001) and PED (OR = 0.910, 95% confidence interval: 0.866–0.956, p < 0.001) score showed lower odds of suffering from CI. Besides, the relationship between the two dietary patterns and CI is linear, and the results of subgroup analysis and sensitivity analysis are also significant. Conclusion: Higher intakes of AID and PED are associated with a lower risk of CI among older adults, which has important implications for future prevention and control of CI from a dietary and nutritional perspective.