The Relationship Between Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet with Anthropometric Items, Comorbidities, and Disability Scale in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis

Background Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an important cause of disability in young adult. Dietary adherence is one of the critical effective factors in the management of MS. This study aimed to investigate the association of adherence to the Mediterranean diet with anthropometric indices and disability status scales in patients with MS. Material(s) and Method(s) This cross-sectional and multicenter study was performed on patients with clinically definite MS (according to the 2017 revised McDonald criteria) referred to the MS clinics at medical centers affiliated to Shiraz and Tehran Universities of Medical Sciences in 2019. Disease phenotypes, EDSS, waist circumference (WC), body mass index (BMI), and comorbidities were assessed. Adherence to the Mediterranean diet was measured with a validated questionnaire. Result(s) This study was performed on 478 patients with a mean age of 37.99 ± 9.60 years, 352 (73.6%) of whom were female. The percentage of the low, medium, and high adherence to the Mediterranean diet in patients with MS was 26.4%, 64%, and 9.6% (p = 0.47). The adherence to the Mediterranean diet between the groups was statistically significant (p = 0.008). Moreover, a significant correlation between patients' body mass index (BMI) and the score of adherence to the Mediterranean diet was found (p = 0.041, r = -0.094). Having a history of hypertension and diabetes did not show a statistically significant association with adherence to the Mediterranean diet (p = 0.24 and p = 0.83, respectively). The results revealed that the score of adherence to the Mediterranean diet had no significant association with mild, moderate, and severe levels of disability (p = 0.19). Conclusion(s) The adherence rate to the Mediterranean diet in Iranian patients with MS was low. It was associated with BMI, suggesting that a high-quality Mediterranean diet may decrease the risk of MS by adjusting BMI. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an important cause of disability in young adult. Dietary adherence is one of the critical effective factors in the management of MS. This study aimed to investigate the association of adherence to the Mediterranean diet with anthropometric indices and disability status scales in patients with MS. This cross-sectional and multicenter study was performed on patients with clinically definite MS (according to the 2017 revised McDonald criteria) referred to the MS clinics at medical centers affiliated to Shiraz and Tehran Universities of Medical Sciences in 2019. Disease phenotypes, EDSS, waist circumference (WC), body mass index (BMI), and comorbidities were assessed. Adherence to the Mediterranean diet was measured with a validated questionnaire. This study was performed on 478 patients with a mean age of 37.99 ± 9.60 years, 352 (73.6%) of whom were female. The percentage of the low, medium, and high adherence to the Mediterranean diet in patients with MS was 26.4%, 64%, and 9.6% (p = 0.47). The adherence to the Mediterranean diet between the groups was statistically significant (p = 0.008). Moreover, a significant correlation between patients' body mass index (BMI) and the score of adherence to the Mediterranean diet was found (p = 0.041, r = -0.094). Having a history of hypertension and diabetes did not show a statistically significant association with adherence to the Mediterranean diet (p = 0.24 and p = 0.83, respectively). The results revealed that the score of adherence to the Mediterranean diet had no significant association with mild, moderate, and severe levels of disability (p = 0.19). The adherence rate to the Mediterranean diet in Iranian patients with MS was low. It was associated with BMI, suggesting that a high-quality Mediterranean diet may decrease the risk of MS by adjusting BMI.