Exploring the relationship between dietary patterns and health-related quality of life among Iranian adult population: Tehran lipid and glucose study.

BACKGROUND: The current study aims to investigate the association between dietary patterns and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in a large Iranian adult population. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted using the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study (TLGS) data. Data from 5711 adults (53.0% female) collected by trained interviewers were analyzed. For assessments of dietary intakes and HRQoL, the 147-item semi-quantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) and Short-Form 12-Item Health Survey version 2 (SF-12v2) were used, respectively. The physical component summary (PCS) and mental component summary (MCS) scores of HRQoL were calculated using the appropriate scoring algorithms. Dietary patterns were identified using factor analysis. General linear models were used to assess the association between dietary patterns and HRQoL scores. RESULTS: Two dietary patterns, labeled as healthy and western, were identified. In men, the median (interquartile range (IQR)) of PCS and MCS were 51.4 (47.2-55.0) and 52.2 (44.2-58.2), respectively. For women, the median (IQR) of PCS and MCS were 48.9 (42.6-53.7) and 47.7 (39.6-55.2), respectively. Significant increasing trends in MCS scores were observed in both men and women across tertiles of healthy dietary pattern. For PCS scores, a significant increasing trend was noted only in women. The Western dietary pattern was not significantly associated with either PCS or MCS in women. However, in men, a significant decreasing trend in MCS scores was observed across tertiles of the Western dietary pattern. CONCLUSIONS: The present study suggests a more beneficial effect of healthy dietary pattern on women's HRQoL. On the other hand, in men, the healthy dietary pattern is positively associated with the mental dimension of HRQoL, whereas the Western dietary pattern is negatively linked to the mental dimension of HRQoL.