Incidence of type 1 diabetes mellitus in the Canary Islands (1995-1996)

Objective. To prospectively evaluate the incidence of type 1 diabetes melli tus in patients up to 30 years of age in the Canary Islands during 1995 and 1996. Patients and methods. The population under study consisted of 744,444 inhab itants in the 0-29 year old group and 302,293 in the 0-14 year old group. T he capture-recapture method was used for estimating the probability of asce rtainment. Hospital records and endecrinologists' reports were the primary source, whereas reports from the <Canary Diabetes Association reports and s ales of blood glucose monitors were the secondary source. Results. A total of 223 new cases of type 1 diabetes mellitus were detected during the study period. The degree of ascertainment was 90.1%. The observ ed incidence rates were 23.2 per 100,000 per year for the 0-14 year old gro up and 9.2 per 100,000 per year for the 15-29 year old group.:The overall i ncidence rate was 15 per 100,000 per year for the entire group. The highest incidence was found in the 10-14 year old group. The incidence in males wa s higher than in females, and particularly significant in the 15-29 year ol d group. No seasonal onset pattern was detected. Conclusions. A high rate of incidence of type 1 diabetes mellitus was obser ved in this study in children aged less than 15 years living in the Canary Islands.