Prospective cohort study of the alternate healthy eating index-2010 and risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in US women and men

The Alternate Healthy Eating Index 2010 (AHEI-2010), a new measure of diet quality based on current scientific knowledge, has been associated with decreased risk for major chronic diseases. The relation of AHEI-2010 with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is not known. We investigated the relation between AHEI-2010 and the risk of newly-diagnosed COPD between 1984 and 2000 in 73,239 women from the Nurses’ Health Study (723 self-reported cases), and between 1986 and 1998 in 46,967 men from the Health Professional Follow-up Study (167 self-reported cases). The cumulative average of the AHEI-2010 score was categorized into quintiles and the risk of COPD compared between quintiles using Cox proportional hazard models. After adjustment for potential confounders, we reported a statistically significant, inverse association between the AHEI-2010 and risk of COPD in women (multivariable RR [95% CI] for Q1 vs. Q5 of AHEI-2010: 0.67 [0.52-0.88], p for trend The AHEI-2010 diet score (reflecting high intakes of whole grains, PUFA, nuts, and fish and low intakes of red and processed meats, refined grains, and sugar-sweetened beverages) was associated with a lower risk of COPD, and supports the importance of diet in COPD pathogenesis.