Visualization of Dietary Patterns and Their Associations With Age-Related Macular Degeneration

PURPOSE: We aimed to visualize the relationship of predominant dietary patterns and their associations with AMD. METHODS: A total of 8103 eyes from 4088 participants in the baseline Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) were classified into three groups: control (n = 2739), early AMD (n = 4599), and advanced AMD (n = 765). Using principle component analysis, two major dietary patterns and eight minor dietary patterns were characterized. Applying logistic regression in our analysis, we related dietary patterns to the prevalence of AMD. Qualitative comparative analysis by operating Boolean algebra and drawing Venn diagrams was used to visualize our findings. RESULTS: In general, the eight minor patterns were subsets or extensions of either one of the two major dietary patterns (Oriental and Western patterns) and consisted of fewer characteristic foods than the two major dietary patterns. Unlike the two major patterns, which were more strongly associated with both early and advanced AMD, none of the eight minors were associated with early AMD and only four minor patterns, including the Steak pattern (odds ratio comparing the highest to lowest quintile of the pattern score = 1.73 [95% confidence interval: 1.24 to 2.41; P(trend) = 0.02]), the Breakfast pattern (0.60 [0.44 to 0.82]; P(trend) = 0.004]), the Caribbean pattern (0.64 [0.47 to 0.89; P(trend) = 0.009]), and the Peanut pattern (0.64 [0.46 to 0.89; P(trend) = 0.03]), were significantly associated with advanced AMD. Our data also suggested several potential beneficial (peanuts, pizza, coffee, and tea) and harmful (salad dressing) foods for AMD. CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that a diet of various healthy foods may be optimal for reducing AMD risk. The effects of some specific foods in the context of overall diet warrant further study.