Healthy Lifestyle and its Association with Risk of Gallstone Disease

• Applicant: Dr. Janine Wirth
• Subject Area: Epidemiology and Medical Biometry/Statistics
• Term: from 2015 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 286519862

Gallstone disease is a metabolic disorder with a high prevalence in Westernized countries. Furthermore, it has been linked to mortality and an increased risk of major chronic diseases, such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. The combined effect of modifiable lifestyle factors on the risk of major chronic diseases is enormous; its impact on the development of gallstone disease may be similar. As the joint effect of a dietary and lifestyle pattern on risk for gallstone disease has not been studied thus far, the main aim of the present project is to investigate the association between an a priori defined healthy lifestyle pattern (including abdominal obesity, diet and alcohol, physical activity and smoking) and the risk of gallstone disease. Previously, the most appropriate dietary pattern for this score will be identified. Therefore, the three dietary patterns, the alternate Mediterranean diet (aMed), the Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI) and the DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) will be examined and their associations with the risk of gallstones will be compared. Data from two large U.S. cohort studies, the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (HPFS) and the Nurses Health Study (NHS), comprising about 170,000 health professionals and nurses, will be used to examine this research question. Exposures and disease information, including gallstones and cholecystectomy, were assessed every two years. For the main analyses, a score will be generated including relevant lifestyle factors (a healthy diet (depending on the results either defined by the aMed, the AHEI or the DASH diet score), moderate coffee consumption, physical activity, abdominal obesity and smoking). Each lifestyle component will contribute to the score based on specific criteria defining a lifestyle considered as non-protective (receives no point) or protective (receives one point). The sum of all lifestyle components will build the overall healthy lifestyle score, with a possible range from 0 to 5 (reflecting minimum to maximum adherence). To assess the association between this healthy lifestyle and the risk of gallstone disease, multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression will be used.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• International Connection: USA
• Host: Professor Dr. Edward Giovannucci