Objective: Dietary inflammatory index (DII) and handgrip strength (HGS) were correlated, and both were associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, the role of the 10-year CVD risk in the relationship between DII and grip strength remains uncertain.
Methods: This study involved 5691 adults from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) in 2011-2014. Dietary inflammation, 10-year CVD risk and relative grip strength were assessed by the Dietary Inflammation Index, the Framingham Risk Score (FRS) and handgrip strength adjusted BMI. Linear regression analyses and mediation analysis were used to explore these associations.
Results: Both DII and 10-year CVD risk were negatively associated with relative handgrip strength, and DII was positively associated with 10-year CVD risk. Additionally, 10-year CVD risk partially mediated the association between DII and relative handgrip strength by a 11.8% proportion. Specifically, the mediating effect of the 10-year risk of CVD varied by gender and age.
Conclusions: Reducing the 10-year risk of CVD attenuates the effect of an inflammatory diet on relative grip strength impairment. Therefore, we recommend reducing the effect of inflammatory diet on grip strength impairment by controlling any of the FRS parameters, such as lowering blood pressure and smoking cessation, especially with targeted measures for different populations.
Keywords: NHANES; cardiovascular disease; handgrip strength; inflammatory diet; mediation.