Dietary Patterns and Nutrient Intake of Individuals with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Osteoarthritis in the U.S.

Abstract Objective To investigate the differences in adherence to the Mediterranean diet, assessed by alternative Mediterranean Diet (aMED) score, and diet quality, assessed by Healthy Eating Index 2015-2020 (HEI-2015), between presence and type of arthritis (rheumatoid arthritis (RA), osteoarthritis (OA)). Additionally, the study investigated the association between aMED scores and HEI-2015 scores and the presence of arthritis. Methods Cross-sectional data from four cycles (2007-2014) of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) was utilized and weighted to produce a nationally representative sample. Arthritis information was extracted from the Medical Conditions file and recoded into relevant variables. Food group and nutrient data from the 24-hour recall was transformed to provide aMED and HEI-2015 scores. Results Individuals with arthritis had significantly worse adherence to the Mediterranean diet and diet quality. aMED scores were 3.43 ± 0.04 for individuals with arthritis and 3.54 ± 0.03 for individuals without arthritis (p=0.014). HEI-2015 scores were also lower in individuals with arthritis (51.41 ± 0.37) compared to without (53.50 ± 0.28) (p Conclusions Individuals diagnosed with arthritis can take steps to improve their diet quality as a possible route to reduce their arthritis symptoms and maintain a healthy body weight. Further research on dietary patterns and their potential to treat and manage arthritis is warranted.