The results showed that evidence is scarce and that very few scores fulfilled the applicability parameters and psychometric quality .
Scores measuring adherence to MD are useful tools for identifying the dietary patterns of a given population .
OBJECTIVE The aim of this review was to evaluate the conceptual suitability , applicability and psychometric properties of scores used internationally to measure adherence to the Mediterranean diet ( MD ) .
Dietary patterns and survival of older Europeans: the EPIC-Elderly Study (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition).
OBJECTIVE To investigate the association of a posteriori dietary patterns with overall survival of older Europeans . DESIGN AND SETTING This is a multi-centre cohort study . Cox regression analysis was used to investigate the association of the prevailing , a posteriori-derived , plant-based dietary pattern with all-cause mortality in a population of subjects who were 60 years or older at recruitment to the European Prospect i ve Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition ( EPIC-Elderly cohort ) . Analyses controlled for all known potential risk factors . SUBJECTS In total , 74,607 men and women , 60 years or older at enrolment and without previous coronary heart disease , stroke or cancer , with complete information about dietary intakes and potentially confounding variables , and with known survival status as of December 2003 , were included in the analysis . RESULTS An increase in the score which measures the adherence to the plant-based diet was associated with a lower overall mortality , a one st and ard deviation increment corresponding to a statistically significant reduction of 14 % ( 95 % confidence interval 5 - 23 % ) . In country-specific analyses the apparent association was stronger in Greece , Spain , Denmark and The Netherl and s , and absent in the UK and Germany . CONCLUSIONS Greater adherence to the plant-based diet that was defined a posteriori in this population of European elders is associated with lower all-cause mortality . This dietary score is moderately positively correlated with the Modified Mediterranean Diet Score that has been constructed a priori and was also shown to be beneficial for the survival of the same EPIC-Elderly cohort
The results showed that evidence is scarce and that very few scores fulfilled the applicability parameters and psychometric quality .
Scores measuring adherence to MD are useful tools for identifying the dietary patterns of a given population .
OBJECTIVE The aim of this review was to evaluate the conceptual suitability , applicability and psychometric properties of scores used internationally to measure adherence to the Mediterranean diet ( MD ) .