Objective

to analyze association between diet quality and multimorbidity among elderly individuals.

Methods

this was a cross-sectional study of elderly people aged 60 years or older in Pelotas, RS, Brazil, 2014; food consumption was assessed using an abridged Food Frequency Questionnaire; diet quality according to the diet quality index (DQI-E) and scores given to food items; multimorbidity (≥5 diseases) was self-reported; Poisson Regression was used to obtain crude and adjusted prevalence ratios and 95% confidence intervals.

Results

1,426 elderly people were included; men who consumed wholefoods (1 to 6 days) were more likely to have multimorbity (PR=1.64 95%CI 1.21;2.23]); those who ate meat at least weekly were less likely to have multimorbity (PRmen=0.68 95%C I0.51;0.92]; PRwomen=0.70 95%CI 0.61;0.81); no association was found between DQI-E and multimorbidity.

Conclusion

although consumption of most foods was not associated with multimorbidity, the results have produced reflections about dietary habits that are pertinent for discussion by health service managers

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