Objective: To estimate the prevalence of anxiety and examine the association between the dietary diversity and anxiety among older Chinese adults.
Methods: The data from the 2018 Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey(CLHLS) was used, a nationwide survey with 10 555 adults aged ≥65 years in 23 provinces of China. Dietary diversity score(DDS) was constructed based on 11 items of a food frequency questionnaire. Participants were assigned into 4 groups according to the quartile of DDS. The outcome observed was the incidence of anxiety in the past two weeks, as self-reported by participants. Logistic regression was used to examine the association between DDS and the risk of anxiety in the elderly.
Results: Among the 10 555 participants, 4682(44.36%) were male, and 5873(55.64%) were female, with a mean(SD) age of 84.50±11.64. And 6106(57.85%) of them came from urban. Anxiety was reported by 12.28% of the 10 555 participants. After adjustment for age, sex, educational background, marital status, residence, coresidence, occupation, sufficient income, smoking, drinking, regular exercise, sleep duration, precentral obesity and central obesity, disability and comorbidity, compared to elders who were the lowest quartile of DDS, OR was 0.74(95%CI 0.61-0.89) for quartile 4. Each 1-point increase in DDS corresponded to a 7% lower risk of anxiety(OR=0.93, 95%CI 0.89-0.96). In addition, a significant association was observed between higher consumption of fresh vegetables, fruits, legumes and beans, and eggs with lower risk of anxiety, the ORs were 0.62(95%CI 0.52-0.74), 0.61(95%CI 0.53-0.70), 0.83(95%CI 0.73-0.95) and 0.82(95%CI 0.72-0.92).
Conclusion: A higher DDS was associated with a lower risk of anxiety in the Chinese aged 65 years and older.
Keywords: anxiety; dietary diversity; older adult.