• Azadeh Tahmasebi, Mohammad Mehdi Amin, Parinaz Poursafa, Bijan Iraj, Hamidreza Sadeghiyan, Roya Kelishadi, and Babak Sadeghian.
• Azadeh Tahmasebi, Environmental Health Engineering Department, Environment Research Center, Research Institute for Primordial Prevention of Non-communicable Disease, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
• Pak J Med Sci. 2015 Mar 1;31(2):369-73.

ObjectivesAir pollution is a hazardous environmental problem with several adverse health effects including its impact on the development of chronic diseases as diabetes mellitus. This study aimed to investigate the association of geographical distribution of air quality index (AQI) and type 2 diabetes mellitus in an air-polluted city by using geographic information system (GIS).MethodsThis cross-sectional study was conducted in Isfahan, Iran. The records that have been registered from 2009 to 2012 in major referral public diabetes clinics were gathered; they included data of 1467 diabetic patients. Their living area was represented with spots in the city map. AQI data were also interpolated from monitoring stations spreading around the city. The GIS maps of air pollutants and diabetes were developed and the associations were determined.ResultsThe density of diabetic population was higher in highly polluted areas compared with areas with the lower levels of air pollution. No significant correlation was documented between the distribution of diabetic patients and air pollution level throughout the city.ConclusionAlthough the density of diabetic patients was higher in areas with higher air pollution, but the lack of association between AQI and the prevalence of diabetes might be because the air of different parts of the city was highly polluted, and we could not compare the prevalence of diabetes in areas with clean and polluted air.

3 keywords...

hide…