Search resultsModified Mediterranean diet and survival: EPIC-elderly prospective cohort study
Title
Modified Mediterranean diet and survival: EPIC-elderly prospective cohort study
Publication type
Journal Article
Year of Publication
2005
Authors
Journal
British Medical Journal
Volume
330
Issue
7498
Pagination
991 - 995
Date published
2005
ISBN
09598146 (ISSN)
Keywords
Aged, anthropometry, article, cancer, cause of death, clinical trial, cohort analysis, Cohort Studies, confidence interval, Denmark, Diet, Mediterranean, dietary intake, Europe, Female, follow up, food composition, France, Germany, Greece, human, Humans, ischemic heart disease, Italy, life expectancy, Life Style, lifestyle, longevity, major clinical study, male, Mediterranean diet, Middle Aged, mortality, multicenter study, Netherlands, priority journal, Prospective Studies, prospective study, questionnaire, Regression Analysis, Sex Distribution, sex ratio, Spain, statistical analysis, stroke, survival, Survival Analysis, Sweden, United Kingdom
Abstract
Objective: To examine whether adherence to the modified Mediterranean diet, in which unsaturates were substituted for monounsaturates, is associated with longer life expectancy among elderly Europeans. Design: Multicentre, prospective cohort study. Setting: Nine European countries (Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom). Participants: 74 607 men and women, aged 60 or more, without coronary heart disease, stroke, or cancer at enrolment and with complete information about dietary intake and potentially confounding variables. Main outcome measures: Extent of adherence to a modified Mediterranean diet using a scoring system on a 10 point scale, and death from any cause by time of occurrence, modelled through Cox regression. Results: An increase in the modified Mediterranean diet score was associated with lower overall mortality, a two unit increment corresponding to a statistically significant reduction of 8% (95% confidence interval 3% to 12%). No statistically significant evidence of heterogeneity was found among countries in the association of the score with overall mortality even though the association was stronger in Greece and Spain. When dietary exposures were calibrated across countries, the reduction in mortality was 7% (1% to 12%). Conclusion: The Mediterranean diet, modified so as to apply across Europe, was associated with increased survival among older people.