Dietary patterns derived by factor analysis are associated with cognitive function among a middle-aged and elder Chinese population

The aim of this study was to assess the association of empirically derived dietary patterns with cognitive function among a middle-aged and elder Chinese population. This study comprised 1676 Chinese adults ≥45 years of age, who participated in a Health Survey and completed semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and cognitive screening test in the city of Linyi.We performed factor analysis using the principal component analysis method to identify the major dietary patterns. Binary logistic regression models were used to estimate odds ratio(OR) and 95% confidence interval(CI) for cognitive impairment according to quartiles of each dietary pattern score. Three dietary patterns were identified, namely traditional Chinese, Western-style and grains-fruits-vegetable patterns. A total of 362 participants (101 men and 261 women) were classified as cognitive impaired. After controlling for potential confounders, participants in the highest quartile of the Western-style pattern had a greater OR for incident cognitive impairment, compared to participants in the lowest quartile. Compared with the lowest quartile of grains-fruits-vegetable pattern, the highest quartile had a lower OR for incident cognitive impairment. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate that the Western-style pattern is associated with an elevated risk and the grains-fruits-vegetables pattern is associated with a decreased risk of cognitive impairment.