Relationship between Diabetes with Drug Use, Family History and Alcohol; Insights from the PERSIAN Cohort Study for...

In recent decades, the prevalence of diabetes, alcohol and tobacco consumption has increased in Iran and the world. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between diabetes with family history, alcohol and tobacco consumption in Iran.

A cross-sectional study was carried out in the southeast of Iran in 2023_2024. The target population consisted of 10,016 individuals aged between 35 and 70 years. The data required for this study was obtained from the data collected by ZACS (Zahedan Adult Cohort Study) in the southeast of Iran (The Persian Cohort and ZACS data are the same. In fact, ZACS is part of the Persian Cohort). The data on general information, diabetes, family history of diabetes and alcohol consumption were collected through a standard questionnaire and were analyzed using descriptive statistics and independent t-tests, chi-square and logistic regression in SPSS 22 software.

The prevalence of diabetes was 19.0% and it was more prevalent in women (20.1%), unemployed people (21.9%) and age groups of 60 years and older (P0.05). The prevalence of diabetes was 37.8% in first relatives and 19.4% in second relatives. Although only 2.4% of people consumed alcohol, diabetes was less common in people who consumed alcohol than in others (P0.001). In univariate results, drug use reduced the chance of developing diabetes (OR=0.86, P=0.026). However, there was not significant relationship between drug use and diabetes after adjusting for history of diabetes in relatives (OR=0.99, P=0.229). Family history had a positive effect on developing diabetes (P0.001).

The findings showed the family history had a positive effect on developing diabetes. These results show the necessity of examining the family history of people, identifying people at risk, and also providing the necessary education for the prevention of diabetes. It is recommended that people with a family history of diabetes take diabetes preventive measures and modify their lifestyle.