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Abstract

Objective:

This study examines the association between two air pollutants (PM2.5 and ozone), and the prevalence of adult diabetes mellitus in relation to various confounding factors.

Methods:

We collected diabetes prevalence data from the 2015 County Health Ranking and Georgia Health Data Hub. A negative binomial regression analysis was conducted to examine the associations between the county-level dependent variable “adult diabetes” (for adults aged> 18 years diagnosed with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes) and two independent county-level variables: percentage of days ³ NAAQS for ozone and PM2.5 concentration levels while controlling for confounders.

Results:

At the county level of the Georgia state, every 35 µg/m3 increase in PM2.5 was associated with a 79% increase in adult diabetes prevalence (PRR=1.788, CI=1.123-2.847). 1% increase in the percentage of African-Americans and percentage of females were associated with a 1% increase (PRR=1.012, CI=1.001-1.024), and 6% increase in adult diabetes (PRR=1.056; CI=1.002-1.113). Every 75 parts per billion (ppb) increase in ozone concentrations was associated with a 19% increase in adult diabetes (PRR=1.19, CI=1.036-1.497). Smoking status was a significant confounder for the associations between PM2.5 (PRR=1.018; CI=1.001-1.036) and ozone (PRR=1.019; CI=1.002-1.037) and adult diabetes prevalence.

Conclusions:

Our finding suggests significant associations between two specific air pollutants and adult diabetes prevalence rates in the Georgia state. Because diabetes prevalence is sharply increasing in the state, we believe regulatory policies should consider controlling PM2.5 and ozone levels in the state and additional evidence-based data should be collected to better understand the synergistic impact of air pollutants on diabetes prevalence rates.

First Page

15

Last Page

22

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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