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A Brief Dietary Assessment Predicts Executive Dysfunction in an Elderly Cohort: Results from the Einstein Aging Study
Erin E Sundermann1, Mindy J Katz1, Richard B Lipton1
1Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York.
Objectives:
To examine the association between diet and executive function, episodic memory and global verbal cognition in the Einstein Aging Study (EAS) cohort and determine whether race modifies this relationship.
Design:
Cross-sectional.
Setting:
Community.
Participants:
EAS participants without dementia who completed the Rapid Eating and Activity Assessment for Patients (REAP) (N = 492).
Measurements:
The previously validated REAP is based on the 2000 U.S. dietary guidelines. REAP scores were dichotomized as less-healthy (
Results:
The sample was 60% female and 74% white and had a mean age of 80. In the entire sample, impaired executive function was associated with the interaction between race and diet group (P = .08), whereas other cognitive domains were not. In race-stratified analyses, healthier diet was associated with lower odds of impaired executive function in whites (odds ratio (OR) = 0.44, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.21-0.93, P = .03), as were healthier scores on the saturated fat subscale (OR = 0.34, 95% CI = 0.16-0.71, P = .004). In blacks, REAP scores were not associated with cognitive domains.
Conclusion:
Healthy diet was associated with lower risk of executive dysfunction in whites. Race differences may be due to greater vascular risk in blacks or differences in generalizability of the REAP.