Neighborhood greenspace and risk of type 2 diabetes in a prospective cohort: the Multi-Ethncity Study of Atherosclerosis.

BACKGROUND: Neighborhood greenspaces provide opportunities for increased physical activity and social interaction, and thus may reduce the risk of Type 2 diabetes. However, there is little robust research on greenspace and diabetes. In this study, we examine the longitudinal association between neighborhood greenspace and incident diabetes in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. METHODS: A prospective cohort study (N = 6814; 2000-2018) was conducted to examine the association between greenspace, measured as annual and high vegetation season median greenness determined by satellite (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) within 1000 m of participant homes, and incident diabetes assessed at clinician visits, defined as a fasting glucose level of at least 126 mg/dL, use of insulin or use of hypoglycemic medication, controlling for covariates in stages. Five thousand five hundred seventy-four participants free of prevalent diabetes at baseline were included in our analysis. RESULTS: Over the study period, 886 (15.9%) participants developed diabetes. Adjusting for individual characteristics, individual and neighborhood-scale SES, additional neighborhood factors, and diabetes risk factors, we found a 21% decrease in the risk of developing diabetes per IQR increase in greenspace (HR: 0.79; 95% CI: 0.63, 0.99). CONCLUSIONS: Overall, neighborhood greenspace provides a protective influence in the development of diabetes, suggesting that neighborhood-level urban planning that supports access to greenspace--along with healthy behaviors--may aid in diabetes prevention. Additional research is needed to better understand how an area's greenness influences diabetes risk, how to better characterize greenspace exposure and usage, and future studies should focus on robust adjustment for neighborhood-level confounders.

Associations Between Racial and Ethnic Groups and Foot Self-Inspection in People With Diabetes.

OBJECTIVE: Daily foot self-inspection may permit earlier detection and treatment of a foot lesion, reducing the risk of infection and lower-limb amputation (LLA). Though race and ethnicity are strongly associated with LLA risk, with higher risk seen in African Americans (AA), American Indians/Alaska Natives (AI/AN), and Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders (NH/PI), associations between foot self-inspection and racial and ethnic groups are inconsistent. We aimed to assess differences in foot self-inspection among people with diabetes by race/ethnicity. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Using national, cross-sectional data from the 2015-2017 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System surveys and including 88,424 individuals with diabetes, we estimated prevalence ratios (PRs) and associated 95% CIs of daily foot checking for sores or irritation by racial and ethnic groups using log-binomial linear regression models, after accounting for survey weights. RESULTS: Compared with whites (who had a weighted prevalence [P] of daily foot self-inspection of 57%), AA (P 67%, PR 1.18 [95% CI 1.14, 1.23]), AI/AN (P 66%, PR 1.15 [95% CI 1.07, 1.25]), and NH/PI (P 71%, PR 1.25 [95% CI 1.03, 1.52]) had higher prevalences of daily foot self-inspection. The prevalence of daily foot inspection was significantly lower among Asians (P 35%, PR 0.62 [95% CI 0.48, 0.81]) and Hispanics (P 53%, PR 0.93 [95% CI 0.88, 0.99]) compared with whites. Associations did not vary importantly by insulin use, years since diabetes diagnosis, or having received diabetes self-management education. CONCLUSIONS: The higher frequency of foot self-inspection in racial and ethnic groups at elevated risk of diabetes-related LLA is not sufficient to eliminate LLA disparities; additional interventions are needed to achieve this aim.