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Review
. 2019 May 23;90(2):209-214.
doi: 10.23750/abm.v90i2.8345.

Urban diabetes: the case of the metropolitan area of Rome

Antonio Nicolucci  1 , Maria Chiara Rossi, Ketty Vaccaro, Roberta Crialesi, Stefania Rossetti, Stefano Da Empoli, Lucio Corsaro, Lelio Morviducci, Marco G Baroni, Simona Frontoni, Francesco Dotta
Affiliations
Review

Urban diabetes: the case of the metropolitan area of Rome

Antonio Nicolucci et al. Acta Biomed. .

Abstract

Background: The world is rapidly urbanizing, causing alarming health problems to their citizens. The Cities Changing Diabetes program aims to address the social factors and cultural determinants that can increase type 2 diabetes (T2D) vulnerability among people living in cities.

Methods: Public data of Italian Institute for Statistics (ISTAT) and available scientific reports were reviewed and findings integrated. The prevalence of T2D in the 8 health districts of Rome was mapped and the correlation between prevalence and social and cultural determinants was assessed.

Results: The metropolitan area of Rome has 4.3 million inhabitants. People over 65 has increased by 136,000 units in the last decade, reaching 631,000 citizens in 2015. Elderly people living alone are 28.4%. The obesity prevalence is 9.3%, as compared to 8.2% in the year 2000. The prevalence of T2D is 6.6%, varying in the different 8 health districts between 5.9% and 7.3%. A linear correlation exists between the prevalence of diabetes in the districts, unemployment rate and use of private transportation rate (Pearson R 0.52 and 0.60, respectively), while an inverse correlation is present with aging index, school education level, and slow mobility rate (Person R -0.57, -0.52, and -0.52, respectively).

Conclusions: Important socio-demographic changes have occurred in Rome during the last decades with a raise in the prevalence of obesity and diabetes. A wide variation exists in the prevalence of T2D among the districts of Rome, associated with social and cultural determinants. This study model can help rethinking diabetes in an urban setting.

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Conflict of interest statement

Each author declares that he or she has no commercial associations (e.g. consultancies, stock ownership, equity interest, patent/licensing arrangement etc.) that might pose a conflict of interest in connection with the submitted article

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Correlation between prevalence of diabetes and ageing index in the health districts of the metropolitan area of Rome
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Correlation between prevalence of diabetes and level of school education in the health districts of the metropolitan area of Rome
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Correlation between prevalence of diabetes and unemployment rate in the health districts of the metropolitan area of Rome
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Correlation between prevalence of diabetes and use of private transportation in the health districts of the metropolitan area of Rome
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Correlation between prevalence of diabetes and use of slow mobility (walk, cycle) in the health districts of the metropolitan area of Rome
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. International Diabetes Federation. IDF Diabetes Atlas. 1st edition. 2000. https://www.idf.org/e-library/epidemiology-research/diabetes-atlas/24-at... . - PubMed
    1. International Diabetes Federation. IDF Diabetes Atlas. 8th edition. 2017. https://diabetesatlas.org/resources/2017-atlas.html . - PubMed
    1. UNDESA. New York: United Nations Department of Economics and Social Affairs, Population Division; 2014. World Urbanization Prospects: The 2014 Revision.
    1. Cities Changing Diabetes. http://www.citieschangingdiabetes.com/home.html .
    1. Statistiche demografiche Roma 2016. http://demo.istat.it/pop2016/index1.html .

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