Assessing the predictive value of the healthy eating index in newly diagnosed atherosclerotic patients: a case-control study

One hundred and three newly diagnosed atherosclerotic patients and an equal number of healthy controls were included. A significant difference was found in the mean HEI-2020 score between the case and control groups (p = 0.029). Logistic regression analysis indicated that HEI-2020 was a predictive factor for atherosclerosis development (p = 0.031), even after adjusting for BMI and physical activity (p = 0.035). Therefore, we found that HEI-2020 was a predictor of atherosclerosis incidence.