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The Combination of Healthy Diet and Healthy Body Weight Is Associated With Lower Risk of Nuclear Cataract in The Blue Mountains Eye Study
The Combination of Healthy Diet and Healthy Body Weight Is Associated With Lower Risk of Nuclear Cataract in The Blue Mountains Eye Study
Nutritional Epidemiology
1
Centre for Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology, The Westmead Institute for Medical Research, The University of Sydney,
Sydney, NSW, Australia; 2 Faculty of Health Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia; 3 Western Sydney Local Health
District, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, NSW, Australia; 4 School of Health & Society, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of
Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia; 5 School of Public Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia; and 6 Health
Services and Systems Research, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore
ABSTRACT
Background: Greater adherence to dietary guidelines has previously been found to be associated with decreased risk
of visual impairment. However, whether or not this association extends to age-related cataract, 1 of the leading causes
of visual impairment, is unknown.
Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the association between adherence to dietary guidelines, using total
diet score, and incidence of age-related cataract.
Methods: Of 3654 baseline participants of the population-based Blue Mountains Eye Study cohort (1992–1994), 2334
(75.8% survivors) and 1952 (76.7% survivors) were examined after 5 and 10 y, respectively. Cataract was assessed from
lens photographs using the Wisconsin Cataract Grading System. Baseline total diet score was calculated from FFQ data
following a modified version of the Healthy Eating Index for Australians. OR with 95% CI were estimated using discrete
logistic regression analyses, adjusting for age, sex, and other confounders. To test interaction, a cross-product term of
2 factors was included in regression models.
Results: Of 2173 participants (84.7% of those returned for 1 or both follow-ups) with total diet score estimated, 57%
were women, mean baseline age was 63.9 ± 8.4y, and mean baseline BMI was 26.3 ± 4.3 kg/m2 . After multivariable
adjustment, baseline total diet score was not associated with incidence of any cataract. A multiplicative interaction was
observed between total diet score and BMI for incident nuclear cataract (P-interaction = 0.04): increasing baseline total
diet score was associated with decreased risk of nuclear cataract among participants with BMI <25 (per unit increased
total diet score, OR: 0.90; 95% CI: 0.81, 0.99; P = 0.02), but not among participants with BMI ≥25 (OR: 1.00; 95% CI:
0.92, 1.10; P = 0.95).
Conclusions: Adherence to dietary guidelines had no appreciable influence on cataract development overall in this
older Australian population. However, adherence to dietary guidelines combined with healthy BMI is associated with
decreased risk of nuclear cataract, an aging marker. J Nutr 2019;00:1–6.
Keywords: age-related cataract, epidemiology, nutrition, successful aging, total diet score
Worldwide, age-related cataract is 1 of the leading causes or delay in cataract progression may reduce the burden of
of blindness and visual impairment among persons aged ≥50 y, cataract and cataract surgery. Evidence from epidemiological
responsible for 35% of blindness and 25% of visual impairment studies indicates that diet and nutrition may influence cataract
cases (1). There are 3 different types of age-related cataract: development (3), offering a potential cataract prevention
cortical, nuclear, and posterior subcapsular (PSC), affecting approach.
different parts of the lens (2). Although all 3 cataract types Previous research involving nutrition and age-related
are associated with age, each type has differing etiologies cataract has mostly focused on the effects of individual nutrients
that are likely multifactorial (2). With continued increase in or combinations of selected nutrients, such as carotenoids and
the aging population, the socioeconomic and public health vitamins C and E (3). Given that individual nutrients are
burden of cataract will increase over time. Cataract prevention not consumed in isolation, and therefore, not likely to act in
2 Tan et al.
TABLE 1 Comparison of baseline characteristics in participants and nonparticipants of the 5-y
and/or 10-y follow-up examination of the Blue Mountains Eye Study1
Participants Nonparticipants
Baseline characteristics n = 2564 n = 1090 P2
Age, y 64.3 ± 8.6 70.7 ± 10.8 <0.0001
Female, % 57.9 53.9 0.03
Current smoker, % 13.4 19.4 <0.0001
Diabetes, % 6.5 10.8 <0.0001
Hypertension, % 42.6 52.0 <0.0001
Education, %3 <0.0001
never smokers), the presence of hypertension (defined as either systolic those aged ≥65 y (6), interaction between total diet score and age
blood pressure ≥160 mm Hg, diastolic blood pressure ≥100 mm Hg was evaluated. Considering the relation between diet and body weight
or self-reported hypertension or use of antihypertensive medications), status, interaction between total diet score and BMI was also evaluated.
diabetes (defined as fasting blood glucose ≥7.0 mmol/L, self-reported Cross-product terms were added to the regression models, 1 at a
diabetes or use of diabetic medication), myopia (spherical equivalent of time, to test for multiplicative interactions between total diet score
less than −1.0 diopter), and self-reported use of inhaled or oral steroids. and age (TDS∗Age), or between total diet score and BMI (TDS∗BMI),
Baseline characteristics were compared between those who were to exclude the possibility of modifying effect of age or BMI on
followed-up and those who were lost to follow-up (Table 1). the association between total diet score and cataract incidence. For
Characteristics of participants attending the follow-up visits were significant interactions, further analyses were conducted in subgroups
compared across quartiles of baseline total diet score (Table 2). stratified by the effect modifier.
Differences in baseline characteristics were tested using independent
t test for continuous variables (means ± SDs) and Pearson’s chi-
square test for categorical variables (frequencies in percentages). Cox’s
discrete logistic regression models for time-to-event data (18, 19) Results
were used to assess associations between baseline total diet score
and incidence of each cataract type. The discrete logistic regression Of the 3654 participants at baseline, 2897 (79.2%) had usable
model is similar to the Cox regression model in that it is a survival data from baseline FFQ and therefore had total diet scores
analysis model incorporating time-to-event information. However, the estimated, and 2564 (70.2%) had returned to 1 or both follow-
time information used in this model was treated as being discrete in up visits after 5 y and/or 10 y. As a result, 2173 (84.7% of the
truth instead of a continuous time spectrum (e.g., number of days or 2564) participants had both total diet scores and lens status
months to the incidence). This logistic regression model is appropriate assessed at 1 or both follow-up examinations.
for our data as incident cataract cases were detected at discrete time- Nonparticipants were more likely to be older, male, current
points (the 5-y and/or 10-y follow-up visits) in our study. The discrete
smokers, less likely to have higher education and more likely to
time hazard is related to the covariates by a logistic regression equation
have hypertension, diabetes, myopia, low mean BMI, and low
(18, 19). In SAS, this was executed through PROC PHREG, where a
partial likelihood estimation method was used. OR with 95% CI are mean total diet score than participants who were followed-up
presented. P value for trend was calculated using median trend methods. (Table 1).
As a previous report from the BMES population found a protective Baseline total diet score ranged from 3.2 to 15.4 out of a total
association between total diet score and visual impairment among score of 20 (median 9.3, IQR 3.1) among those who attended
TABLE 2 Baseline characteristics of participants who attended the 5-y and/or 10-y follow-up examination of the Blue Mountains Eye
Study by quartiles of baseline total diet score1
follow-up examinations. Participants in the lowest quartile of nuclear cataract with increasing quartiles of total diet score:
total diet score were more likely to be younger, male, and current OR 1.07, 0.74, and 0.64 for the second, third, and fourth
smokers at baseline compared to those in the highest quartile quartiles of baseline total diet score, respectively, referencing
(Table 2). to the first quartile. No similar associations were observed
Cumulative 10-y incidence rates of cortical, nuclear, and among participants with BMI ≥25 (Table 4). There was no
PSC cataracts in this cohort were 21.8% (334/1535), 30.8% interaction observed between total diet score and age for any
(337/1094), and 6.8% (117/1724), respectively. Increasing type of cataract (P-interaction >0.05 for all types of cataract).
quartiles of total diet score were not associated with any type
of incident cataract (Table 3, findings from all participants).
After adjusting for age, sex, education level, smoking status, the Discussion
presence of hypertension, diabetes, or myopia, and the use of
inhaled or oral steroids, there was a marginally nonsignificant, In this population-based cohort of older Australians, we did
decreased risk of incident nuclear cataract associated with each not observe any significant associations between healthy diet,
unit increase in total diet score (OR: 0.95; 95% CI: 0.87, indicated by high adherence to dietary guidelines, and the
1.01; P = 0.08) (Table 3). No association was evident between incidence of age-related cataract. However, BMI appeared to
increased total diet score and incident cortical (per unit total modify the association between total diet score and incidence
diet score increase, adjusted OR: 1.04; 95% CI: 0.98, 1.10; of nuclear cataract. After stratification by BMI: in persons
P = 0.23) or incident PSC cataract (adjusted OR: 1.03; 95% with baseline BMI <25, increasing baseline total diet score
CI: 0.93, 1.13; P = 0.59) (Table 3). was associated with a decreased risk of nuclear cataract
We detected a significant interaction between BMI development in 5–10 y.
and total diet score for nuclear cataract development (P- Although previous studies have reported protective associa-
interaction = 0.04). Analyses stratified by 2 BMI categories tions between diet quality and prevalent nuclear cataract (7–9),
(<25, ≥25 kg/m2 ) showed a 10% decreased risk of incident and we previously reported increasing baseline total diet score
nuclear cataract associated with each unit increase in total associated with low risk of visual impairment development in
diet score among participants with BMI <25, after adjusting the BMES population (6), there has been no study investigating
for the same set of co-variables (OR: 0.90; 95% CI: 0.81, whether adherence to dietary guidelines is associated with
0.99; P = 0.02) (Table 4). In this BMI subgroup, there was a cataract development in a population-based cohort. In this
nonsignificant trend (P-trend = 0.08) of decreasing incident current study, we found largely negative findings between
TABLE 4 Association between total diet score and nuclear cataract stratified by BMI categories1
Nuclear cataract
Total diet score n/N OR (95% CI) P2
Participants with BMI <25
Quartile 1 41/117 1.00 (ref.) 0.08
Quartile 2 34/96 1.07 (0.58, 1.97)
Quartile 3 31/104 0.74 (0.40, 1.38)
Quartile 4 38/134 0.64 (0.35, 1.15)
Per unit increase in total diet score 144/451 0.90 (0.81, 0.99) 0.02
Participants with BMI ≥25
Quartile 1 35/160 1.00 (ref.) 0.61
Quartile 2 56/167 1.55 (0.90, 2.65)
Quartile 3 50/170 1.37 (0.79, 2.38)
Quartile 4 46/136 1.25 (0.71, 2.22)
Per unit increase in total diet score 187/633 1.00 (0.92, 1.10) 0.95
1
Models adjusted for baseline age, sex, smoking status, hypertension, diabetes, education, use of inhaled or oral steroids, and
myopia. n/N, number of cases/number at risk.
2
P values are P-trend across quartiles.
4 Tan et al.
adherence to dietary guidelines and incident cortical and PSC only be generalizable to other older populations with similar
cataract over 10 y, except for the protective association between demographic and socioeconomic characteristics.
increasing baseline total diet score and decreasing incidence of Strengths of our study include the large population-based
nuclear cataract among participants with BMI <25. sample with reasonably good follow-up (∼75% of survivors),
The reported associations between BMI and nuclear cataract detailed data collection procedures for risk factor information,
have not been consistent, and no overall longitudinal as- and the use of the same standardized cataract grading proce-
sociation was found in the BMES (20), although there is dures to determine cataract status across the 3 examinations.
evidence from a meta-analysis of increasing BMI associated The longitudinal study design provides a clear temporal relation
with increased risk of cataract (21). It may be possible that a between diet at baseline and subsequent cataract development.
combination of healthy diet and healthy BMI is needed to have In summary, healthy diet, indicated by high adherence to
6 Tan et al.