A comparison of the dietary patterns derived by principal component analysis and cluster analysis in older Australians

Abstract

BackgroundDespite increased use of dietary pattern methods in nutritional epidemiology, there have been few direct comparisons of methods. Older adults are a particularly understudied population in the dietary pattern literature. This study aimed to compare dietary patterns derived by principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (CA) in older adults and to examine their associations with socio-demographic and health behaviours.MethodsMen (n = 1888) and women (n = 2071) aged 55–65 years completed a 111-item food frequency questionnaire in 2010. Food items were collapsed into 52 food groups and dietary patterns were determined by PCA and CA. Associations between dietary patterns and participant characteristics were examined using Chi-square analysis. The standardised PCA-derived dietary patterns were compared across the clusters using one-way ANOVA.ResultsPCA identified four dietary patterns in men and two dietary patterns in women. CA identified three dietary patterns in both men and women. Men in cluster 1 (fruit, vegetables, wholegrains, fish and poultry) scored higher on PCA factor 1 (vegetable dishes, fruit, fish and poultry) and factor 4 (vegetables) compared to factor 2 (spreads, biscuits, cakes and confectionery) and factor 3 (red meat, processed meat, white-bread and hot chips) (mean, 95 % CI; 0.92, 0.82–1.02 vs. 0.74, 0.63–0.84 vs. −0.43, −0.50– −0.35 vs. 0.60 0.46–0.74, respectively). Women in cluster 1 (fruit, vegetables and fish) scored highest on PCA factor 1 (fruit, vegetables and fish) compared to factor 2 (processed meat, hot chips cakes and confectionery) (1.05, 0.97–1.14 vs. −0.14, −0.21– −0.07, respectively). Cluster 3 (small eaters) in both men and women had negative factor scores for all the identified PCA dietary patterns. Those with dietary patterns characterised by higher consumption of red and processed meat and refined grains were more likely to be Australian-born, have a lower level of education, a higher BMI, smoke and did not meet physical activity recommendations (all P < 0.05).ConclusionsPCA and CA identified comparable dietary patterns within older Australians. However, PCA may provide some advantages compared to CA with respect to interpretability of the resulting dietary patterns. Older adults with poor dietary patterns also displayed other negative lifestyle behaviours. Food-based dietary pattern methods may inform dietary advice that is understood by the community.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12966-016-0353-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Dietary antioxidant capacity and risk of type 2 diabetes in the large prospective E3N-EPIC cohort

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A Dietary Pattern with High Sugar Content Is Associated with Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in the Pomak Population

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“…In order to face these difficulties, the use of dietary patterns has emerged as a useful tool to capture the complexity of the diet and the interrelationship between dietary components. 10 Although several authors have investigated the relationship between food patterns and the risk of T2DM, 11 to our knowledge no study has been conducted on the association between micronutrient patterns and T2DM. 9 One of the most commonly used techniques is principal components analysis (PCA).…”

“…9 One of the most commonly used techniques is principal components analysis (PCA). 10 Although several authors have investigated the relationship between food patterns and the risk of T2DM, 11 to our knowledge no study has been conducted on the association between micronutrient patterns and T2DM. The advantages of studying micronutrient patterns are primarily related to the fact that, unlike foods, there are few non-consumers of micronutrients, so that the generalization of micronutrient patterns across populations is easier.…”