# Dietary Quality Indices and Its Cardiovascular Diseases Risk Factors: A Survey from the Kavar Cohort Study: Dietary Quality Indices and its CVD Risk Factors

## TL;DR

This study explores how different dietary quality indices relate to cardiovascular disease risk factors in a cohort of patients and healthy individuals.

## Contribution

The study identifies specific dietary indices associated with reduced cardiovascular risk factors in patients.

## Key findings

- Higher DASH diet scores correlated with lower CVD risk factors like waist-to-hip ratio and cholesterol in patients.
- The MEDI-LITE Index was linked to reduced BMI and cholesterol levels in patients.
- The Dietary Inflammatory Index showed no significant correlation with CVD risk factors.

## Abstract

Atherosclerosis is known to be a significant reason for cardiovascular
diseases (CVDs). Hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes, obesity, smoking,
physical inactivity, and unhealthy diet are the most important causes of
atherosclerosis. This study aimed to determine the relationship between DASH
Diet Index, Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII), Mediterranean Diet (MEDI-LITE)
Index, and CVDs risk factors.

Out of 4997 patients, all eligible patients with CVDs (n=264) were chosen as
the patient group, and 264 healthy individuals were included in the healthy
group. Dietary intake and anthropometric measures were evaluated, including
height, weight, hip and waist circumference, blood pressure, and lipid
profile.

Among the three dietary indices, the DASH diet score was significantly higher
in the healthy group than in the patient group (P=0.02). An inverse
relationship was found between the DASH Diet Index and waist-to-hip ratio
(r=-0.33, P=0.042), Visceral Adiposity Index (VAI; r=-0.16, P=0.044),
systolic blood pressure (r=-0.13, P=0.035), triglycerides (r=-0.36,
P=0.046), total cholesterol (r=-0.47, P=0.02), and lowdensity lipoprotein-C
(LDL-C) levels (r=-0.09, P=0.03) in the patient group. Additionally, the
MEDI-LITE Index was inversely associated with body mass index (BMI; r=-0.12,
P=0.04), waist circumference (r=-0.065, P=0.05), triglyceride (r=-0.25,
P=0.015), total cholesterol (r=-0.4, P=0.02), LDL-C levels (r=-0.2,
P=0.006), and systolic blood pressure (r=-0.122, P=0.005) in the patient
group. Also, a significant positive relationship was observed between the
DII and BMI in both patients and healthy individuals (r=0.76, P=0.006 vs.
r=0.24, P=0.01, respectively) and hip circumference (r=0.638, P=0.035) in
the patients group. However, no significant relationship was observed
between DII and CVDs risk factors.

Patients with higher DASH diet scores had lower waistto-hip ratio, VAI, total
cholesterol, LDL-C, triglycerides, and lower blood pressure. In addition,
patients with higher MEDI-LITE scores had lower BMI, waist circumference,
triglycerides, total cholesterol, LDL-C, and lower blood pressure, but no
correlation was found in the healthy group.