Investigation of adherence to DASH diet components and reduction of heart failure risk in adults: A case-control study

Background: Heart failure (HF), or congestive Heart failure (CHF), is a heart disorder with a number of symptoms caused by the heart's inability to pump blood. Our aim in conducting this study is to investigate the adherence to dietary approaches to stop hypertension (DASH) diet components and the risk of HF in Iranian adult women and men.

Methods: In this hospital-based, case-control study, we included 340 participants (194 men and 146 women) aged 30-70 years who were recently (less than 6 months) diagnosed with HF. In this study, there were 169 participants in the control group and 171 participants in the case group. A semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) with 148 items was used to assess food intake. Multiple logistic regression statistical tests were used to evaluate the relationship between DASH score and HF.

Results: After adjusting for confounding variables, the data showed that adherence to the DASH diet was associated with a reduced risk of HF. Our data show that a significant relationship was found between the consumption of fruits (OR: 0.62; 95% CI: 0.53-0.68), vegetables (OR: 0.53; 95% CI: 0.28-0.81), legumes and nuts (OR: 0.75; 95% CI: 0.65-0.68), and heart failure, but no significant relationship was found with the other components of the DASH diet and heart failure.

Conclusion: Findings suggest that there is an inverse relationship between adherence to the DASH-style diet and the likelihood of HF, and adherence to some components of the DASH diet was also effective in reducing the risk of HF. To obtain more complete results, it is necessary to conduct cohort studies and randomized clinical trials.