Mediterranean dietary components are inversely associated with advanced colorectal polyps: A case-control study

Table 1 Comparison between cases of advanced polyps and non-advanced adenomas versus controls in demographic, clinical and dietary parameters

	Controls (n = 385)	Cases with non-advanced adenomas (n = 192)	P value	Cases with advanced polyps (n = 206)	P value
Age (yr)	58.2 ± 6.6	58.8 ± 6.6	0.069	59.7 ± 6.0	0.022
Gender (% male)	47.9	56.2	0.061	58.1	0.010
Low socio-economic status1 (%)	7.2	8.6	0.410	8.6	0.846
1st degree Family history of CRC (%)	7.6	12.0	0.097	5.8	0.451
Physical inactivity2 (%)	44.3	45.2	0.988	50.3	0.171
Smoking (ever) (%)	48.4	62.5	0.017	60.7	0.002
BMI (kg/m2)	27.0 ± 5.1	29.1 ± 5.2	0.009	29.2 ± 6.1	0.004
Total calories (Kcal)	2013 ± 688	2063 ± 1045	0.652	2006 ± 724	0.804
Colonoscopy indication
Screening (%)	59.5	34.4	< 0.001	37.9	< 0.001
Diagnostic3 (%)	35.6	33.3	0.491	37.9	0.583
Surveillance4 (%)	0.0	32.3	< 0.001	24.3	< 0.001
Medication use
Statins (%)	41.1	47.4	0.046	49.7	0.091
Aspirin (%)	28.2	37.0	0.006	38.2	0.019
NSAIDs (%)	1.0	0.5	0.112	0.5	0.923
Antidiabetic medication (%)	10.8	9.9	0.923	13.1	0.654
Dietary intake
Number of MD components	5.1 ± 1.7	5.0 ± 1.9	0.620	4.5 ± 1.9	< 0.001
Beneficial components
Whole grains (servings/d)	2.2 ± 2.2	2.1 ± 1.9	0.884	1.7 ± 2.0	0.027
Vegetables and legumes (servings/d)	3.3 ± 2.0	3.4 ± 2.4	0.378	3.1 ± 2.1	0.185
Fruit (servings/d)	2.7 ± 2.3	2.2 ± 2.2	0.122	2.3 ± 2.4	0.227
Nuts and seeds (servings/d)	1.5 ± 1.6	1.5 ± 1.5	0.358	1.5 ± 1.7	0.355
MUFA/SFA ratio (per day)	1.4 ± 0.5	1.3 ± 0.5	0.298	1.3 ± 0.4	0.098
Fish (servings/wk)	3.9 ± 3.6	3.5 ± 3.8	0.378	3.4 ± 3.1	0.177
Poultry (servings/wk)	6.7 ± 5.1	6.8 ± 5.3	0.688	6.6 ± 4.5	0.462
Detrimental components
Alcoholic beverage (servings/d)	1.1 ± 0.5	1.1 ± 0.7	0.925	1.1 ± 0.6	0.179
Sugar sweetened beverages (servings/d)	3.1 ± 3.2	3.0 ± 3.4	0.827	3.3 ± 3.6	0.277
Red meat (servings/wk)	2.6 ± 4.1	3.2 ± 4.1	0.039	3.4 ± 4.1	0.036

¹Low socio-economic status - categorized as the lowest quartiles of education or income;

²Physical inactivity - categorized as reported physical activity of less than 20 min per week;

³Diagnostic colonoscopy - indicated by alarming symptoms such as anemia, unexplained weight loss, rectal bleeding, abdominal pain or change in bowel habits;

⁴Surveillance colonoscopy - indicated by familial or personal history of colorectal polyps. Continuous variables are presented as mean ± SD, and categorical variables as proportions. CRC: Colorectal cancer; BMI: Body mass index; NSAIDS: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; MD: Mediterranean diet.