Adherence to healthy dietary patterns is essential to reduce the risk of total, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality. Various studies have used dietary quality indices such as the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH), Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI)-2010, and Healthy Eating Index (HEI)-2020 to assess adherence to these healthy dietary patterns. Our objective was to analyze the association between adherence to these three dietary quality indices and total, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality in an adult Mediterranean population aged 65 years or older.
During 12 years of follow-up, among 903 participants, 403 deaths were recorded, 160 due to cardiovascular diseases and 90 due to cancer. Participants in the third tertile of AHEI-2010 and HEI-2020, with higher adherence to these indices, showed a 24% and 27% lower risk of total mortality, respectively. In addition, those classified in the third tertile of HEI-2020 showed a 42% lower risk of cardiovascular mortality. Among the components of the indices, vegetables were the main component significantly associated with a lower risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, and fruits with a lower risk of total and cancer mortality.