Spatial distribution of cancer and its relationship with environmental quality characteristics in Mashhad

Achieving environmental quality criteria is not possible without considering the pattern of physical development. The quality of the place is one of the effective causes in the occurrence of various diseases, however, regarding specific diseases such as cancer, the studies conducted are in the first steps. The present study tries to measure the spatial patterns of cancer deaths in Mashhad and show that 1) What is the pattern of deaths? And 2) to what extent is it related to the quality characteristics of the environment? The study is descriptive-analytical and the study variables include 1) characteristics related to the deceased and 2) characteristics related to the quality of the environment (including air pollution and green space per capita). For this purpose, after developing a conceptual research model, by receiving information related to the deceased and the quality of the environment, a spatial database was created in the ArcGIS software environment. In the next step, using classical statistical models (correlation and t-test) and spatial statistics (spatial autocorrelation, orientation and spatial regression) data were analyzed. The results showed that the spatial pattern of the deceased did not follow the pattern of population distribution and the difference in the spatial pattern of the deceased according to gender and their average age at the neighborhood level. The use of spatial autocorrelation models showed two hot cores in the north and southwest of Mashhad and a cold core around the holy shrine. Which shows the need to pay attention to spatial differences. The results of correlation and spatial regression test indicated that the frequency of deaths in the neighborhoods is related to the average level of air pollution and green space per capita. However, the need for further studies at various intervals is suggested to confirm the findings.