To investigate the association between monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) intake and the prevalence of Parkinson’s disease (PD) among US adults using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database. Cross-sectional data from the NHANES 2001–2018 were selected. PD cases were identified through self-reported PD medications. MUFAs intake was determined from dietary interview data for two 24-hour periods. To address severe outcome imbalance and improve covariate comparability, we conducted survey-weighted propensity score matching (PSM) incorporating NHANES sampling weights. In the matched sample, survey-weighted logistic regression was used to evaluate the association between MUFAs intake (quartiles) and PD prevalence, and a trend test was performed. Restricted cubic spline (RCS) models were applied to examine potential non-linear associations. A total of 12,122 participants were included, consisting of 84 PD patients and 12,038 participants without PD. MUFAs intake was significantly lower in the PD group than in matched controls after PSM (P = 0.010). Exploratory subgroup analyses suggested heterogeneity across some subpopulations. RCS analyses did not indicate a significant non-linear relationship between MUFAs intake and the prevalence of PD. Higher MUFAs intake was inversely associated with PD prevalence in this cross-sectional analysis. Given the study design, causality cannot be inferred; prospective studies are warranted to confirm these findings and clarify underlying mechanisms.
Zhou et al. (Thu,) studied this question.