The association of priori and posteriori dietary patterns with the risk of incident hypertension: Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate the association of dietary patterns with incident hypertension. MATERIALS/METHODS: This prospective study was conducted on 4793 individuals of Tehran lipid and glucose study participants, aged ≥ 18 years who were followed for a median of 6.3 years from 2008–2011 to 2016–2018. A valid and reliable semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire was used to assess usual dietary intakes. Anthropometrics and blood pressure were assessed at baseline and during follow up examinations. Dietary patterns were derived using principal component analysis (PCA). Healthy eating index (HEI) and dietary approach to stop hypertension (DASH) score were measured based on dietary recommendations. Time-dependent Cox models adjusting for confounders were used to examine the association between dietary patterns and the risk of hypertension. RESULTS: During follow-up, a total of 727 incident cases of hypertension were identified. The mean ± SD age at baseline was 40.3 ± 13.5 and 37.9 ± 12.1 years in men and women, respectively. Two dietary patterns (the healthy and unhealthy) were extracted by PCA. Compared with participants in the first quartile, a 23% (HR: 1.23; 95%CI 1.00–1.53; P trend: 0.056) increased risk of hypertension was found in the fourth quartile of HEI score. This association was disappeared after further adjustment for confounders. Increasing DASH score, the healthy and unhealthy dietary pattern were not associated with risk of hypertension. CONCLUSION: Our findings showed that higher adherences to the posteriori- and priori-dietary patterns were not associated with risk of hypertension in this population.