A Posteriori Dietary Patterns and Coronary Artery Disease in a Greek Case–Control Study

Introduction: Diet is one of the most important modifiable risk factors associated with cardiovascular health (CH). Research identifying dietary patterns (DPs) through data-driven analysis and reporting associations between DPs and coronary artery disease (CAD) outcomes is rather limited. Objective: The aim of the present report was to generate DPs through factor analysis (FA) and to examine their association with CAD risk. Methods: Participants (n = 1017) consisted of cases diagnosed with CAD (n = 356) and controls (n = 661) drawn from the THISEAS study. Demographic, anthropometric and lifestyle data were collected. Dietary components were generated through FA. Logistic regression analysis was performed to estimate CAD relative risks. Results: FA generated seven dietary components, explaining 53.5% of the total variation in intake. The Western-type DP showed a modest significant association with CAD risk, after controlling for confounders (OR = 1.20; 95% CI = 1.09–1.32, p < 0.001). The vegetarian-type DP was not significantly associated with the likelihood of CAD (OR = 0.95; 95% CI = 0.84–1.04, p = 0.259). Discussion: The Western-type DP was positively associated with CAD risk and the odds were further increased after controlling for confounders. This finding is in concordance with previously reported positive associations between Western patterns and CAD risk. Limited data exist regarding a posteriori DPs and their effect on CAD risk.