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Intake of fruit and vegetables and the incident risk of cognitive disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies

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The journal of nutrition, health & aging

Abstract

Objectives

No quantitative assessment has been performed to specifically link the consumption of fruit and vegetables with the incident risk of cognitive disorders.

Methods

We searched the PubMed and the Embase databases (both from the inception to June 13th, 2016) for records that report the intake of fruit and vegetables and the risk of developing cognitive disorders (Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, and cognitive decline/ impairment). A generic inverse-variance method (random-effects model) was used to combine the relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). To explore the potential sources of heterogeneity, we performed the subgroup and meta-regression analyses by pre-specified characteristics.

Results

We identified 6 cohorts involving a total of 21,175 participants. The pooled analysis showed that consumption of fruit and vegetables was inversely associated with the incident risk of cognitive disorders, and the pooled RR (95% CI) was 0.74 (0.62, 0.88), with evidence of significant heterogeneity (I2 =68%). Furthermore, we found that the significant heterogeneity might be attributed to the ethnic difference.

Conclusion

Further large prospective studies should be performed to quantify the potential dose-response patterns of fruit and/or vegetables intake and to explore the role of fruit or vegetables consumption separately on cognitive disorders in different populations.

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Abbreviations

AD:

Alzheimer’s Disease

FFQ:

food-frequency questionnaire

DSM:

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

NINCDS-ADRDA:

National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke-Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders Association

FAQ:

Functional Activities Questionnaire

DECO:

Observed Cognitive Deterioration

NOS:

Newcastle-Ottawa Scale

RR:

relative risk

HR:

hazard ratio

OR:

odds ratios

95% CI:

95% confidence interval

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology, Institute of Geriatrics, Chinese People’s Liberation Army General Hospital, Beijing, China

    L. Wu

  2. Beijing Key Laboratory of Aging and Geriatrics, Chinese People’s Liberation Army General Hospital, Beijing, China

    L. Wu

  3. Department of Nanomedicine, Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston, USA

    D. Sun

  4. Editorial Department, Academic Journal of Chinese PLA Medical School, Chinese People’s Liberation Army General Hospital, Beijing, China

    Yan Tan

Authors
  1. L. Wu
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  2. D. Sun
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  3. Yan Tan
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Correspondence to Yan Tan.

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Wu, L., Sun, D. & Tan, Y. Intake of fruit and vegetables and the incident risk of cognitive disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies. J Nutr Health Aging 21, 1284–1290 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-017-0875-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-017-0875-6

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