INCREASING INCIDENCE OF TYPE-I DIABETES IN THE NETHERLANDS

OBJECTIVE - A nationwide retrospective study was conducted to assess t he incidence of type I diabetes in The Netherlands among children <20 years of age in 1988-1990. The first study with a similar design cover ed 1978-1980. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS - The capture-recapture cens us method was chosen for analysis of the data. A questionnaire was sen t to all Dutch pediatricians and internists, and for the ascertainment , a similar questionnaire was sent out separately to members of the Du tch Diabetes Association, which is the national patient association. R ESULTS - The average achieved ascertainment rate was 81%. The ascertai nment-adjusted annual incidence was 13.2/100,000 for 0- to 19-year-old children, indicating an increase of 23% compared with the 1978-1980 s urvey; for 0- to 14-year-olds, the increase amounted to 17%. CONCLUSIO NS - This study suggests a sustained increase of type I diabetes in Th e Netherlands because the cumulative incidence studied previously in t he 1960-1970 birth cohorts of male army conscripts 18 years of age was also found to rise. In contrast to Northern European countries, an in crease in incidence for the age category 0-4 years could not be found.