Do interaction and joint effects between physical activity and dietary inflammatory index modify stroke risk?

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Epidemiology
• Nutrition Science

Background:

• Stroke represents a significant global health burden.
• Physical activity (PA) and diet are recognized as modifiable risk factors for stroke.
• Understanding the interplay between PA and dietary patterns is crucial for stroke prevention strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the independent, interactive, and joint effects of physical activity (PA) and the Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) on stroke risk.
• To assess how lifestyle factors influence stroke incidence in a large population sample.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from 18,676 participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2007-2020).
• Employed weighted multivariable logistic regression to analyze associations, interactions, and joint effects of PA and DII with stroke.
• Adjusted for potential confounding variables to isolate the impact of PA and DII.

Main Results:

• Higher DII scores (pro-inflammatory diet) and insufficient PA were independently associated with increased stroke risk (OR: 1.72 and 1.37, respectively).
• No statistically significant multiplicative or additive interactions were found between DII and PA regarding stroke risk.
• Individuals with the highest DII (most pro-inflammatory diet) and lowest PA exhibited the highest stroke risk (OR: 2.39).

Conclusions:

• Active PA and a low DII (anti-inflammatory diet) are independently protective against stroke.
• While interactions were not statistically significant, the joint effect analysis indicates that adopting both an anti-inflammatory diet and maintaining active PA is associated with the lowest stroke risk.
• These findings underscore the importance of comprehensive lifestyle interventions for stroke prevention.