Little is known about which currently available a priori dietary indexes provide best guidance for reducing cardiometabolic risk factors (CMRF) among hyperlipidemic patients. This study was designed to compare the associations between four a priori dietary indexes, including Diet Balance Index (DBI-16), Chinese Healthy Eating Index (CHEI), Mediterranean Diet Score (MDS) and Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) and CMRF among hyperlipidemic patients. A total of 269 participants were enrolled into the cross-sectional study. DBI-16, CHEI, MDS, and DASH scores were calculated using established methods. CMRF was measured using standard methods. DBI-total scores (DBI-TS) were inversely associated with triglyceride concentrations and TC:HDL-C ratio, and positively associated with HDL-C and ApoA1 concentrations (all p < 0.05), while the results for DBI-low bound scores (DBI-LBS) were opposite. DBI-high bound scores (DBI-HBS) and DASH scores were positively and inversely associated with glucose concentrations, respectively (both p < 0.05). Higher diet quality distance (DQD) was positively associated with higher TC, LDL-C and ApoB concentrations, and TC:HDL-C and LDL-C:HDL-C ratios, and lower HDL-C and ApoA1 concentrations and ApoA1:ApoB ratio (all p < 0.05). CHEI scores were inversely associated with triglyceride concentrations (p = 0.036). None of the dietary indexes was associated with blood pressures. DBI-16 provided most comprehensive evaluations of the overall diet quality and balance for optimizing cardiometabolic health among hyperlipidemic individuals.
Keywords: Chinese healthy eating index; Mediterranean diet score; cardiometabolic disorders; diet balance index; dietary approaches to stop hypertension score; dyslipidemia.