MIND Diet and Cognitive Function over Eight Years in Puerto Rican Older Adults.

BACKGROUND Healthy diets have been associated with better cognitive function. Socio-economic factors including education, poverty and job complexity may modify the relationship between diet and cognition. METHODS We used adjusted linear mixed models to examine the association between long-term adherence to the Mediterranean-Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension - Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet and cognitive function over 8 years of follow-up in Puerto Rican adults residing in the Boston, MA area (aged 45 to 75 years at baseline). We also examined whether the MIND diet - cognition association was confounded or modified by socioeconomic measures. RESULTS In both cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses the highest, vs lowest, MIND quintile was associated with better cognition function (s = 0.093; 95% CI: 0.035, 0.152; P trend = 0.0019), but not with cognitive trajectory over 8 years. Education <=8 th grade (s = -0.339; 95% CI: 0.394, -0.286; P < 0.0001) and income-to-poverty ratio <120% (s = -0.049; 95% CI: -0.092, -0.007; P = 0.024) were significantly associated with lower cognitive function, while higher job complexity (s = 0.008; 95% CI: 0.006, 0.011; P < 0.0001) was associated with better cognition function. These variables acted confounders, but not effect modifiers of the MIND-diet - cognitive function relationship. CONCLUSION Adherence to the MIND diet was associated with better cognitive function at baseline and over 8 years of follow-up, however MIND diet was not associated with 8-year cognitive trajectory. More studies are needed to better understand whether the MIND diet is protective against long-term cognitive decline.