Mediterranean Diet and Changes in Frequency, Severity, and Localization of Pain in Older Adults: The Seniors-ENRICA Cohorts

Background: Although some components of the Mediterranean diet have shown benefits in pain risk through its anti-inflammatory/antioxidant properties, no population-based studies have investigated the effect of adherence to this diet on changes in pain over time. Methods: We used data from 864 and 862 older adults recruited in the Seniors-ENRICA-1 and Seniors-F.NRICA-2 cohorts and followed-up for 2.8 and 2.4 years, respectively. Adherence to the Mediterranean diet was assessed with the MEDAS score at baseline. Frequency, severity, and locations of pain obtained at baseline and follow-up were used to compute a pain scale. Analyses were performed using multinomial logistic regression models, and adjusted for the main confounders. Results: Participants had a mean (SD) age of 71.5 (5.1) years, 36.8% were men, and 78.3% had chronic conditions. In the pooled cohorts, compared with participants in the lowest quartile of the MEDAS score (lowest adherence to the Mediterranean diet), those in the highest quartile showed a higher frequency of pain improvement versus worsening (relative risk ratio [95% confidence interval]: 1.43 [1.03, 1.99]). This association was also evidenced in 2 components of the pain scale: improvement in pain severity (1.43 [1.01, 2.04]) and reduction in pain locations (1.54 [1.08, 2.20]), but a tendency to pain frequency improvement (1.34 [0.92, 1.93]) was also observed. The main contributors to these associations were high consumption of fruit and vegetables, and low consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. Conclusions: A higher adherence to the Mediterranean diet was related to a subsequent improvement in pain characteristics in older adults, suggesting that improving diet quality may help reduce the high health impact of pain.

Automated summary

The study found that higher adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with improvements in pain characteristics in older adults, indicating that improving diet quality may help reduce the health impact of pain.