INCIDENCE OF IDDM IN GERMAN CHILDREN AGED 0-14 YEARS - A 6-YEAR POPULATION-BASED STUDY (1987-1993)

OBJECTIVE - Generally accepted data on the incidence of childhood diab etes in Germany have not been available up to now To register the tota l number of newly diagnosed cases in Baden-Wuerttemberg (a federal sta te in southwest Germany), data on 1,160 children were retrospectively collected for the years 1987-1993. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS - Hospi tal records were the primary data source. There were 32 hospital units in Baden-Wuerttemberg included in this study. A secondary independent data source was a questionnaire circulated among the patients' associ ation, Deutscher Diabetiker Bund. Case definition was done according t o criteria EURODIAB ACE, a collaborative European study set up to asse ss the incidence of childhood diabetes. The degree of ascertainment wa s 96.2%, using the capture-mark-recapture method. The study includes a population at risk, entailing 1.5 million children, corresponding to 12.3% of all German children.RESULTS - The incidence was found to be 1 1.6/100,000 (95% CI 10.9-12.2) for children aged 0-14 years. There was no significant difference between the incidence rates of boys and gir ls. Seasonal variation was observed, with cases increasing between Nov ember and February and incidence increasing with age. Peaks were found in early childhood (3-4 years of age) and prepuberty (10-12 years of age). There was marked geographical variation that did not correlate s ignificantly with population density. CONCLUSIONS - For the first time , internationally comparable data on the incidence of diabetes in chil dren up to 15 years of age are available for Germany. The yearly incid ence of 11.6/100,000 proved to be much higher than assumed so far.