Predicting the 10-year risk of cardiovascular diseases and its relation to healthy diet indicator in Iranian military personnel

Background Epidemiological studies indicate increased prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) among military personnel. Accordingly, identification of at-risk individuals and lifestyle modification such as improving diet quality can potentially inhibits the increasing trend of CVD mortality. The aim of this study was predicting the 10-year risk of CVD and its association with healthy diet indicator (HDI) among military personnel. Methods In this cross-sectional study, 400 male military personnel within the age range of 30-75 years were included. HDI score was calculated based on food frequency questionnaire, and the 10-year risk of CVD was evaluated using Framingham risk score (FRS). The FRS items include age, gender, total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), systolic blood pressure, status of diabetes and smoking. Partial correlation test was employed to investigate the relationship between Framingham risk score and HDI score. Results The mean age and body mass index (BMI) of participants were 38.67 +/- 5.3 year and 25.28 +/- 3.22 kg/m(2), respectively. Prediction of FRS was as follows: 96.5% were low risk, 2% were moderate risk, and 1.5% were high risk. The mean HDI score of participants in this study was 5.98 +/- 1.36. While HDI score did not show a significant correlation with FRS (r: - 0.009, p:0.860), increased dietary sodium intake had a significant positive correlation with FRS (r: 0.114, p:0.026). Conclusion The most of participants (96.5%) had in low risk of CVD development in the next 10 years. Meanwhile, the FRS showed no significant relationship with HDI score. Further researches are required to confirm the results of the present study.

Automated summary

The study found that the majority of military personnel had a low risk of developing CVD in the next 10 years, but there was no significant relationship between healthy diet indicator and cardiovascular disease risk score. Further research is needed to confirm these findings.