[Role of the environment in the occurrence of noninfectious diseases of the digestive tract in the Primorie Territory].

The paper presents the results of a hygienic study to identify the leading regional risk factors for noninfectious diseases of the digestive tract (DT) in the Primorye Territory. Data on 55 environmental factors and registered deaths by 5 groups of noninfectious DT diseases over 15 years were collected for the study. The authors used an original scheme for identifying risk factors for DT diseases, by concurrently applying a correlation and regression analysis. The chemical composition of portable water from the water supply system, soil contamination by trace elements, and socioeconomic factors showed 5.6-23.2% responsibility for the geographical distribution of the bulk of DT diseases. At the same time, many years' rises in morbidity rates among children and adolescents by 5.6-18.2% and adults by as high as 50% are attributable to altered daily diets and socioeconomic factors and to reduced access to medical care. The nature of the found risk factors allows one to direct the main ways to prevent non-infectious DT diseases among the region's population.