Dietary Patterns and Common Diseases in Chinese Elderly: Exploring Associations and Providing Guidance for Personalized Interventions

The current state of geriatric disease prevention and treatment in China has not yet been able to meet the urgent needs brought about by an aging population, and specific dietary patterns can significantly improve or exacerbate the risk of certain diseases. However, the relationship between geriatric diseases and the dietary patterns of the Chinese elderly population has not been fully explored. CLHLS 2018 were analyzed in the present study. Principal component analysis was employed to identify the main dietary patterns of the Chinese elderly, and binary logistic regression models were used to analyze the associations between these dietary patterns and the 16 common diseases. Four main dietary patterns were identified in the Chinese elderly population: Egg-Milk Pattern, Salt-preserved vegetable-Nut Pattern, Vegetable-Fruit Pattern, and Fish-Meat Pattern. Higher scores for the Egg -Milk Pattern were associated with a greater risk of heart disease, stroke or cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, glaucoma, prostate tumor, and Parkinson's disease in older adults (p<0.05). Higher scores for Salt-preserved vegetable-Nut Pattern correlated with a greater risk of hypertension, heart disease, and uterine tumors and a lower risk of rheumatism or rheumatoid disease in older adults (P<0.05). The higher scores of the Vegetable-Fruit Pattern were associated with a lower risk of heart disease in older adults (p<0.05). Finally, higher scores of the Fish-Meat Pattern correlated with a lower risk of heart disease, stroke, and cardiovascular disease and a greater risk of rheumatic or rheumatoid disease in older adults (p<0.05). The same dietary pattern may have contrasting effects on different diseases. The correlations between dietary patterns and diseases derived from this study may provide a basis for the prevention and individualized management of diseases in the elderly.