Rei Otsuka1, Yuki Kato2, Yukiko Nishita3, Chikako Tange3, Mariko Nakamoto4, Makiko Tomida5, Tomoko Imai6, Fujiko Ando2, Hiroshi Shimokata7, Takao Suzuki8. 1. National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Aichi, Japan. Electronic address: otsuka@ncgg.go.jp. 2. National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Aichi, Japan; Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Aichi Shukutoku University, Aichi, Japan. 3. National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Aichi, Japan. 4. National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Aichi, Japan; Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Tokushima University Graduate School, Tokushima, Japan. 5. National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Aichi, Japan; Research Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Japan. 6. National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Aichi, Japan; Faculty of Human Life and Science, Doshisha Women's College of Liberal Arts, Kyoto, Japan. 7. National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Aichi, Japan; Graduate School of Nutritional Sciences, Nagoya University of Arts and Sciences, Aichi, Japan. 8. National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Aichi, Japan; Institute of Gerontology, Oberlin University, Tokyo, Japan.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to clarify the effects of dietary diversity on a decline in higher-level functional capacity among middle-aged and elderly subjects in Japan. METHODS: Data were derived from the National Institute for Longevity Sciences - Longitudinal Study of Aging. Subjects comprised 1317 men and women aged 40 to 79 at baseline (1997-2000) who participated in a follow-up postal survey (2013). Higher-level functional capacity was measured using the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology index of competence (total score and 3 subscales). Dietary intake was assessed using a 3-d dietary record, and dietary diversity was determined using the Quantitative Index for Dietary Diversity (QUANTIDD). The odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for a decline in higher-level functional capacity in the follow-up study according to quartiles of QUANTIDD at baseline were estimated, controlling for age, sex, higher-level functional capacity scores at baseline, body mass index, alcohol consumption, physical activity, depressive score, household income, education, smoking, and disease history. RESULTS: A total of 214 (16%), 145 (11%), 70 (5%), and 136 (10%) subjects showed a decline in total score for higher-level functional capacity (≥2), instrumental self-maintenance (≥1), intellectual activity (≥2), and social role (≥2), respectively. Multivariate-adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) for the score for intellectual activity decline according to the lowest through highest quartiles of QUANTIDD were 1.00 (reference), 0.47 (0.23-0.95), 0.44 (0.22-0.90), and 0.41 (0.20-0.83), respectively (P for trend = 0.06). CONCLUSIONS: Daily intake of various foods may protect against a decline in intellectual activity among middle-aged and elderly community dwellers in Japan.
OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to clarify the effects of dietary diversity on a decline in higher-level functional capacity among middle-aged and elderly subjects in Japan. METHODS: Data were derived from the National Institute for Longevity Sciences - Longitudinal Study of Aging. Subjects comprised 1317 men and women aged 40 to 79 at baseline (1997-2000) who participated in a follow-up postal survey (2013). Higher-level functional capacity was measured using the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology index of competence (total score and 3 subscales). Dietary intake was assessed using a 3-d dietary record, and dietary diversity was determined using the Quantitative Index for Dietary Diversity (QUANTIDD). The odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for a decline in higher-level functional capacity in the follow-up study according to quartiles of QUANTIDD at baseline were estimated, controlling for age, sex, higher-level functional capacity scores at baseline, body mass index, alcohol consumption, physical activity, depressive score, household income, education, smoking, and disease history. RESULTS: A total of 214 (16%), 145 (11%), 70 (5%), and 136 (10%) subjects showed a decline in total score for higher-level functional capacity (≥2), instrumental self-maintenance (≥1), intellectual activity (≥2), and social role (≥2), respectively. Multivariate-adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) for the score for intellectual activity decline according to the lowest through highest quartiles of QUANTIDD were 1.00 (reference), 0.47 (0.23-0.95), 0.44 (0.22-0.90), and 0.41 (0.20-0.83), respectively (P for trend = 0.06). CONCLUSIONS: Daily intake of various foods may protect against a decline in intellectual activity among middle-aged and elderly community dwellers in Japan.