Yi-Wen Jiang1, Li-Ting Sheng1, Lei Feng2, An Pan1, Woon-Puay Koh3,4. 1. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Environment and Health and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health (incubating), School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province 430030, China. 2. Department of Psychological Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 119228, Singapore. 3. Health Services and Systems Research, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore 169857, Singapore. 4. Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore and National University Health System, Singapore 117549, Singapore.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: evidence from prospective studies investigating the association between consumption of nuts in midlife and risk of cognitive impairment in late life is limited. METHODS: this study analysed data from 16,737 participants in a population-based cohort, the Singapore Chinese Health Study. Intake of nuts was assessed using a validated food-frequency questionnaire at baseline (1993-1998), when participants were 45-74 years old (mean age = 53.5 years). Cognitive function was tested using the Singapore modified Mini-Mental State Examination during the third follow-up visit (2014-2016), when participants were 61-96 years old (mean age = 73.2 years). Cognitive impairment was defined using education-specific cut-off points. Logistic regression models were used to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and the 95% confidence interval (CI) for the association between intake and risk of cognitive impairment. RESULTS: cognitive impairment was identified in 2,397 (14.3%) participants. Compared with those who consumed <1 serving/month of nuts, participants who consumed 1-3 servings/month, 1 serving/week and ≥2 servings/week had 12% (95% CI 2-20%), 19% (95% CI 4-31%) and 21% (2-36%) lower risk of cognitive impairment, respectively (P-trend = 0.01). Further adjustment for intake of unsaturated fatty acids attenuated the association to non-significance. Mediation analysis showed that the 50.8% of the association between nuts and risk of cognitive impairment was mediated by the intake of total unsaturated fatty acids (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: higher intake of nuts in midlife was related to a lower risk of cognitive impairment in late life, which was partly mediated by unsaturated fatty acids.
BACKGROUND: evidence from prospective studies investigating the association between consumption of nuts in midlife and risk of cognitive impairment in late life is limited. METHODS: this study analysed data from 16,737 participants in a population-based cohort, the Singapore Chinese Health Study. Intake of nuts was assessed using a validated food-frequency questionnaire at baseline (1993-1998), when participants were 45-74 years old (mean age = 53.5 years). Cognitive function was tested using the Singapore modified Mini-Mental State Examination during the third follow-up visit (2014-2016), when participants were 61-96 years old (mean age = 73.2 years). Cognitive impairment was defined using education-specific cut-off points. Logistic regression models were used to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and the 95% confidence interval (CI) for the association between intake and risk of cognitive impairment. RESULTS: cognitive impairment was identified in 2,397 (14.3%) participants. Compared with those who consumed <1 serving/month of nuts, participants who consumed 1-3 servings/month, 1 serving/week and ≥2 servings/week had 12% (95% CI 2-20%), 19% (95% CI 4-31%) and 21% (2-36%) lower risk of cognitive impairment, respectively (P-trend = 0.01). Further adjustment for intake of unsaturated fatty acids attenuated the association to non-significance. Mediation analysis showed that the 50.8% of the association between nuts and risk of cognitive impairment was mediated by the intake of total unsaturated fatty acids (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: higher intake of nuts in midlife was related to a lower risk of cognitive impairment in late life, which was partly mediated by unsaturated fatty acids.
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