An observational study of high air temperature on diabetes mortality in six cities in China

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the effect of high air temperature on diabetes mortality in six cities in China. Methods: Daily diabetes mortality and meteorological data were collected from January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2013 in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing, Guangzhou, and Shenyang. Distributed lag nonlinear model was used to evaluate the association between high air temperature and diabetes mortality after controlling for the long-term trend and the effect of "day of week" . Results: The effect of high air temperature on diabetes mortality varied in different cities, the maximum cumulative relative risk of Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing, Guangzhou and Shenyang were 1.37 (lag 2 days), 1.32 (lag 0 days), 1.40 (lag 0 days), 1.26 (lag 2 days), 1.48 (lag 2 days) and 1.67 (lag 3 days). The daily diabetes death numbers were similar in men and women, but the death number in women were slightly higher than that in men, no gender specific characteristics were found. The death number was highest in age group 65-84 years, accounting for >60% of the total deaths, the difference was significant. Conclusion: The mortality of diabetes increased obviously in the context of high air temperature environment.