Diet quality and multimorbidity in older adults: a prospective cohort study

The role of diet quality in the accumulation of multiple chronic conditions is mostly unknown. This study examined diet quality in association with the number of chronic conditions and the rate of multimorbidity development among community-dwelling older adults. We used data from 2784 adults aged ≥65 years from the Seniors-ENRICA 2 cohort. Diet quality was assessed at baseline (2015-2017) with the Alternate Healthy Eating Index-2010 (AHEI-2010) and the Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener (MEDAS). Information on medical diagnoses was obtained from electronic clinical records up to 2021. Higher adherence to the AHEI-2010 was associated with a lower number of total chronic conditions [β (95% CI) quartile 4 vs. 1: -0.57 (-0.86, 0.27), P trend