• Beatriz Teixeira, Cláudia Afonso, Ana S Sousa, Rita S Guerra, Alejandro Santos, Nuno Borges, Pedro Moreira, Patrícia Padrão, and Teresa F Amaral.
• Faculdade de Ciências da Nutrição e Alimentação da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal. Electronic address: bea.teixeira20@hotmail.com.
• Nutrition. 2019 Sep 1; 65: 91-96.

ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to evaluate adherence to the Mediterranean dietary pattern (MDP) and its associated factors in older Portuguese adults.MethodsA cross-sectional observational study was designed. In the context of the Nutrition UP 65 study, a national cluster sample of 1407 Portuguese individuals ≥65 y of age was analyzed. Adherence to the MDP was evaluated with the Portuguese version of the Prevention with Mediterranean Diet tool. The association between an individual's characteristics and adherence to the MDP was analyzed through hierarchical logistic regression analysis.ResultsIn this study, 43% of participants adhered to the MDP (n = 609). Higher educational level (odds ratio [OR], 2.38; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.54-3.69), living in the center (OR, 1.35; 95% CI, 1.01-1.79), being married or living in a common-law marriage (OR, 1.54; 95% CI, 1.20-1.97), and body mass index (ORpreobese, 1.52; 95% CI, 1.02-2.25) were related with increased odds of adherence to the MDP. Otherwise, lower adherence to the MDP was found for participants who were ≥80 y of age (OR, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.52-0.94), who lived in Madeira (OR, 0.35; 95% CI, 0.14-0.89) and Azores (OR, 0.28; 95% CI, 0.08-0.99), who rated their health as moderate (OR, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.50-0.84) or as bad or very bad (OR, 0.63; 95% CI, 0.45-0.90), and those who reported six or more comorbidities (OR, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.39-0.97).ConclusionsOf the sample, 57% did not adhere to the Mediterranean diet. Potentially modifiable factors associated with lower adherence to the MDP were lower educational and health status.Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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