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Association between dietary vitamin E intake and cognitive decline among old American: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

European Geriatric Medicine volume 14, pages 1027–1036 (2023)Cite this article

Key summary points

AbstractSection Aim

This study aimed to investigate changes in vitamin E intake in older adults with low cognitive performance using NHANES.

AbstractSection Findings

An increased dietary intake of vitamin E has been associated with decreased cognitive impairment in individuals over 60 years old. The dose–response curve showed an L-shaped association between dietary vitamin E intake and cognitive decline in US adults, with an inflection point of approximately 9.296 mg/day.

AbstractSection Message

These findings highlight the importance of including vitamin E-rich foods in the diet, particularly for older adults who may be at a higher risk of cognitive impairment. However, further research is needed to confirm these results and to better understand the mechanisms underlying the relationship between vitamin E and cognitive function.

Abstract

Purpose

Numerous studies have reported that vitamin E plays a key role in nervous system development and neurotransmitter production. This study aimed to investigate changes in vitamin E intake in older adults with low cognitive performance using NHANES.

Methods

In this cross-sectional study, we examined a sample of 2255 American adults aged 60 and over between 2011 and 2014. We collected dietary data by averaging two recalls for dietary use to determine vitamin E intake. We assessed cognitive function using five tests and analyzed the association between these variables using a multivariate logistic regression model.

Results

A total of 2255 participants aged ≥ 60 years from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) for the 2011–2014 cycle were included in the analysis. Vitamin E intake was negatively associated with cognitive function. In the Z test, with each 1 mg/day increase in dietary intake of vitamin E, there was a 6% decrease in the correlation with cognitive impairment (OR = 0.94, 95% CI 0.91–0.97) in the fully fitted model (OR = 0.94, 95% CI 0.91–0.97). These findings remained consistent when analyzing the exposure as a categorical variable. In comparison to Q1, Q4 showed a 53% reduction in the incidence of cognitive impairment in the Z test (OR = 0.47, 95% CI 0.33–0.67).No significant statistical interaction between the variables was found.

Conclusion

An increased dietary intake of vitamin E has been associated with decreased cognitive impairment in individuals over 60 years old. The dose–response curve showed an L-shaped association between dietary vitamin E intake and cognitive decline in US adults, with an inflection point of approximately 9.296 mg/day.

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Data availability

Our research is based on public data from the NHANES, all details are from the official website (https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhanes/index.htm). To obtain the application executable files, please contact the author Kai Zhang by email zhangkai7018@mails.jlu.edu.cn.

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Acknowledgements

Thanks to Dr. Liu Jie for his statistics, research design consultation and manuscript editing for the Department of Vascular Surgery of PLA General Hospital. Thank you to Dr. Zhao Jiayu and Dr. Zhang Tianqi from the Second Hospital of Jilin University for their revision suggestions.

Funding

The study has no foundation.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Second Hospital, Jilin University, No. 218, Ziqiang Street, Changchun, Jilin, China

    Kai Zhang & Zhaoxuan Gu

  2. Department of Ophthalmology, First Hospital of Jilin University, No.71 Xinmin Street, Changchun, Jilin, China

    Yu Han

  3. Bethune Second School of Clinical Medicine, Jilin University, No.828 Xinmin Street, Changchun, Jilin, China

    Zhengyan Hou, Xiaoqi Yu, Min Gao, Tianyi Cai, Yafang Gao, Jinyu Xie & Fangming Gu

  4. Bethune First College of Clinical Medicine, Jilin University, No.828 Xinmin Street, Changchun, Jilin, China

    Jianguo Chen & Bowen Chen

  5. Department of Gastrointestinal Nutrition and Hernia Surgery, The Second Hospital, Jilin University, No. 218, Ziqiang Street, Changchun, Jilin, China

    Tianzhou Liu

Authors
  1. Kai Zhang
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  2. Yu Han
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Contributions

Conceive and design: KZ ZXG HY. Provided material: FMG MG. Performed the study: KZ ZYH XQY. Analyzed the data: TYC YFG JYX. Wrote the paper: KZ TZL.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Kai Zhang or Tianzhou Liu.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

NHANES received approval from the National Center for Health Statistics Research Ethics Review Board.

Informed consent

NHANES participants provided informed consent before participation in the NHANES study.

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Zhang, K., Han, Y., Gu, Z. et al. Association between dietary vitamin E intake and cognitive decline among old American: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Eur Geriatr Med 14, 1027–1036 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41999-023-00814-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41999-023-00814-w

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