Mediterranean diet and risk of falling in community-dwelling older adults

Abstract

Background: Although the association between nutrition and muscle and bone health has been widely studied, the role of adequate nutrition in the prevention of falls remains uncertain. Therefore, this study examined the association between a Mediterranean-style dietary pattern and the risk of falling in older adults.

Methods: We performed a prospective cohort study with 2,071 participants aged ≥60 y from the Seniors-ENRICA study. In 2008-2010, adherence to the Mediterranean diet was assessed with the MEDAS score, and study participants were followed-up through 2012 to assess incident falls during the previous year.

Results: Over a median follow-up of 3.5 years, 402 (19.4%) people reported at least one fall (69.2% of them fell once and 30.8% ≥ 2 times). After adjustment for potential confounders, participants in the highest tertile of the MEDAS score showed a lower frequency of falling compared with those in the lowest tertile (OR: 0.72; 95% confidence interval 0.53-0.98; P-trend: 0.04). Consuming ≥2 servings/day of vegetables was the individual target of the MEDAS score that showed a significant association with a lower risk of falling (OR: 0.63; 95% CI 0.44-0.89). Targets for consumption of fruit, red and process meat, butter and margarine, wine, fish and nuts also showed some tendency to a slightly lower risk of falls.

Conclusion: The Mediterranean diet was associated with lower risk of falling among older Spanish adults. These findings suggest that the total benefit from the Mediterranean diet is due to the accumulated or synergic impact of several foods rather than a single one.

Keywords: Elderly adults; Falls; Mediterranean diet.