Association between Dietary Patterns and Cardiometabolic Multimorbidity among Chinese Rural Older Adults

Abstract

Background: The global population is aging rapidly, leading to an increase in the prevalence of cardiometabolic multimorbidity (CMM). This study aims to investigate the association between dietary patterns and CMM among Chinese rural older adults. Methods: The sample was selected using a multi-stage cluster random sampling method and a total of 3331 rural older adults were ultimately included. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to examine the association between the latent dietary patterns and CMM. Results: The prevalence of CMM among rural older adults was 44.64%. This study identified four potential categories: “Low Consumption of All Foods Dietary Pattern (C1)”, “High Dairy, Egg, and Red Meat Consumption, Low Vegetable and High-Salt Consumption Dietary Pattern (C2)”, “High Egg, Vegetable, and Grain Consumption, Low Dairy and White Meat Consumption Dietary Pattern (C3)” and “High Meat and Fish Consumption, Low Dairy and High-Salt Consumption Dietary Pattern (C4)”. Individuals with a C3 dietary pattern (OR, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.66–0.98; p = 0.028) and a C4 dietary pattern (OR, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.51–0.97; p = 0.034) significantly reduced the prevalence of CMM compared with the C1 dietary pattern. Conclusions: Rural older adults have diverse dietary patterns, and healthy dietary patterns may reduce the risk of CMM.