Dietary Patterns and Gallstone Risks in Chinese Adults: A Cross-sectional Analysis of the China Multi-Ethnic Cohort Study

Background: Little is known about the association between a plant-based diet and the risk of gallstone disease (GD), especially in developing counties. We tested the hypothesis that shifting dietary patterns would be related to the risk of GD, and that the Mediterranean diet (MED) adjusted for China would be beneficial for lowering risk of GD.Methods: Data were extracted from the baseline survey of the China Multi-Ethnic Cohort study. An alternative Mediterranean diet (aMED) score was assessed based on a food frequency questionnaire, and three posteriori dietary patterns (the modern dietary pattern, the coarse grain dietary pattern, and the rice dietary pattern) were identified using factor analysis. Multivariable logistic regression models were developed to evaluate the association between dietary patterns and GD risks.Results: A total of 89,544 participants were included. The prevalence of GD was 7.5%. Comparing the highest with lowest quintiles, aMED was associated with an increased risk of GD (OR 1.13; 95% CI, 1.04-1.24; Ptrend = 0.003), whereas the rice dietary pattern was inversely related to GD risk (OR 0.79; 95% CI, 0.71-0.87; Ptrend < 0.001). In stratified analysis, the rice dietary pattern had a stronger inverse association in the subgroups of females, older, urban, and overweight participants, and those with diabetes-factors associated with higher rates of GD in previous studies.Conclusion: Higher adherence to the rice dietary pattern was associated with a lower risk of GD. For high-risk populations, making some shift to a traditional agricultural diet might help with primary prevention of GD.