gender-dependent differences in the relationship between diabetes mellitus and ambient air pollution among adults in south korean cities

background: air pollution has been a serious public health threat worldwide. it has been linked to pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases but is also believed to contribute to air-pollution-mediated cardiometabolic disease such as diabetes. we investigated the relationship between type 2 diabetes mellitus (dm2) and air pollution in densely developed urban settings in south korea, using national epidemiologic data. methods: the analysis focused on examining gender-related differences in the relationship between dm 2 and air pollutants, specifically particulate matter ≤ 10μm (pm 10 ) and sulfur dioxide (so 2 ). to assess the relationship between dm and exposure to pm 10 and so 2 , multivariate logistic regression models were developed using the 2012 korea community health survey data and the ambient air pollution data in south korean cities at both gu - and si levels. results: the commonly encountered levels of pm 10 and so 2 may be associated with dm 2 prevalence in south korea but it appears there may be gender differences. in particular, exposure to either pm 10 or so 2 was significantly related to the prevalence of dm 2 among women but not among men. conclusion: these findings provide new evidence of an association between air pollution and the risk of diabetes in urbanized areas of south korea.