DIETARY INFLUENCES ON CANCER IN AND AROUND COIMBATORE, INDIA: A GIS BASED RISK ASSESSMENT STUDY

Abstract

Diet habits play a key role in the health of person with the time, type and method of intake of food. Several studies has been carried out to study the influence of diet on the risk of cancer among various populations. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technologies are evolving rapidly and increasingly used for mapping disease occurrence as a way to explore spatial and temporal patterns. Specifically, the use of area-level socioeconomic factors, person habits and multilevel geographic approaches has been recommended to help evaluate single or multiple influences on cancer incidence and other cancers and health conditions using statistical and spatial analysis. The present study attempts in mapping the dietary influences on the risk of cancer among 3000 patients screed for cancer at Coimbatore, India. Information such as the age of the person, sex, marital status, tobacco use history, year of cancer diagnosis, and stage and grade of tumor were extracted from the incidence data. Spatial maps were prepared using GIS to identify the influence of diet on the risk of cancer. The result shows significant variations in diet habits and the cancer risk among different stages of diagnosis. These geographic spatial patterns inform and may facilitate the design of intervention programs to target areas of exposure.