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Objectives
To develop a short questionnaire that can be easily used to estimate quantitatively the level of adherence to cardio-protective Mediterranean diets.
Design
Validation of the results of the short questionnaire with the data of a case-control study.
Setting
Patients attended in three tertiary hospitals in Pamplona, Spain.
Subjects
171 cases of first myocardial infarction and 171 matched hospital controls (mean age 62 years; 81% men).
Interventions
A short dietary questionnaire was developed to specifically assess adherence to a cardioprotective Mediterranean pattern. This questionnaire used simple questions to assess the frequency of consumption for food items typical of the Mediterranean diet (olive oil, wine, fruits, vegetables, fish and legumes) and also assessed whole-grain intake. A low consumption of meat or meat-products was also included in the composite score. The composite score obtained with this simple questionnaire (reange 0-9) was compared with the relative risk of myocardial infarction using the case-control data.
Results
In the fully adjusted analyses we found an odds ratio = 0.18 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.03-0.97; p=0.04) for those scoring 7-9 points when comparing them with those scoring 1-2 points. An increment of one point in the score was associated with a 18% reduction in the relative risk of myocardial infarction (p=0.05) after adjusting for cardiovascular risk factors.
Conclusions
A simple questionnaire of 9 items can be used for a quick and inexpensive assessment of the adherence to a cardio-protective Mediterranean dietary pattern. |
Miguel A. Martinez-Gonzalez, Elena Fernandez-Jarne, Manuel Serrano-Martinez, Alvaro Alonso, University of Navarra, Spain
Enrique Gomez-Gracia, University of Malaga, Spain |
