An observational study of sociodemographic, lifestyle, health and dietary characteristics and socio-cultural behaviours of Greek Australians from MEDiterranean ISlands: the MEDIS-Australia Study.

This study will evaluate sociodemographic, health, psychosocial (lifestyle) and dietary characteristics of Greek Australians originally from Greek islands, over 65 years of age without heart disease but with CVD risk factors and markers for metabolic syndrome. Baseline observations will be made by an Accredited Practising Dietitian (APD), participants will not be followed up. An in-person interview will be conducted to administer a bilingual modified lifestyle (MEDIS-LQ) and food frequency questionnaire (MEDIS-FFQ) modelled on the questionnaire used to investigate elderly Greeks living in Greek islands (Tyrovolas et al, 2009; Tyrovolas et al, 2010). Additional questions and foods in the modified MEDIS-Australia questionnaire were included to address the lack of an ethnic-specific questionnaire to measure dietary characteristics and socio-cultural behaviours such as religious fasting, traditional cooking methods/dishes and home gardening. Otherwise, the questionnaire remains consistent with the original MEDIS questionnaire. The modified MEDIS-LQ includes; -Sociodemographic variables (gender, date of birth, island of origin, year of migration, years lived in Australia, SES, education level, years of education, marital status, household circumstances. -Health variables (smoking status, access to, and type of health services used, self-reported medical conditions, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes, constipation, physical activity. -Psychosocial variables ( religious fasting, days of fasting per year, home gardening, depressive symptoms). The previously validated Geriatric Depression Scale. (GDS) for assessment of depressive symptoms (*Mamplekou et al, 2010; Yesavage et al,1983; Fountoulakis et al, 1999). The modified MEDIS-FFQ includes; -Dietary variables (frequency of consumption of food groups and individual foods from which to measure adherence using two diet scores and portion specific estimates to determine intake in grams per day and an analysis of nutrient intake). Additional health characteristics will be collected by the dietitian. Anthropometric measures (weight, height, waist,hip and neck circumferences) of enrolled participants and their clinical history will be obtained to screen for exclusion criteria related to history of CVD and to evaluate risk of CVD and MetS. Participant signed consent will enable access to medical history from the general practitioner as nominated by each participant to obtain most recent blood pressure measure, blood test results and current prescribed medications (6-12 months preceding recruitment). The impact of migration on the level of adherence to a Greek Mediterranean dietary pattern will be assessed and the relationships between socio-cultural characteristics and behaviours with adherence to traditional Greek dietary pattern and cuisine and the presence of CVD risk factors and risk of MetS will be evaluated. The study cohort of elderly Greek Australian migrants from islands will be compared to their counterparts living on these islands. *Tyrovolas et al, 2009. Level of Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet Among Elderly Individuals Living in Mediterranean Islands: Nutritional Report from the Medis Study. Ecol of Food and Nutrition, 48:1,76-87. *Tyrovolas et al, 2010. Repeatability and Validation of a Short, Semi-Quantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire Designed for Older Adults Living in Mediterranean Areas: The MEDIS-FFQ. *Mamplekou et al, 2010. Urban environment, physical activity and unhealthy dietary habits correlate to depression among elderly in Eastern Mediterranean Islands: The MEDIS (MEDITERRANEAN ISLANDS ELDERLY) STUDY. *Yesavage et al, 1983. Development and validation of a geriatric depression screening scales: a preliminary report. J Psych Research, 17:37-49. *Fountoulakis et al, 1999. The validation of the short form of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) in Greece. Aging (Milano), 11:367-372.