Objective: To compare diet quality and nutrient intake between PD patients and controls and examine associations with PD clinical features.

Background: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is increasingly recognized as a systemic disorder, and dietary habits may influence its clinical features, including non-motor symptoms. Evaluating diet quality in PD patients can inform targeted nutritional interventions.

Method: A case-control study including 130 PD patients and 100 controls (household = 65; community = 35) recruited from Al-Hussein University Hospital and Cairo Fatemia Hospital between April 2023 and April 2025. Dietary intake over the previous month was assessed using 24-hour recalls and the Healthy Eating Index (HEI)-2015. Multivariate logistic and linear regression analyses evaluated associations between HEI scores, PD status, non-motor symptoms (e.g., constipation), and medication dose, adjusting for confounders.

Results: PD patients had significantly lower HEI scores compared with controls (mean ± SD: 52.4 ± 10.1 vs. 61.7 ± 9.2, OR per 10-point increase = 0.63, 95% CI: 0.44–0.91). Their diet was higher in carbohydrates, total and added sugars, and trans fats, and lower in fiber, folate, unsaturated fats, protein, and total fat. PD patients with chronic constipation had 5.1 points lower HEI compared with those without constipation (β = −0.51 per 10-point HEI, 95% CI: −1.02 to −0.01). Patients on higher dopamine agonist doses consumed significantly more sugar than those on lower doses.

Conclusion: PD patients in these Egyptian centers consume a lower-quality diet compared with household and community controls. Improving diet quality may help manage non-motor symptoms, particularly constipation, and should be integrated into routine care, with attention to medication status.

HEI bar graph

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/diet-quality-and-nutrient-intake-in-parkinsons-disease-a-multicenter-study-in-egypt/