Diabetes Care, Vol 17, Issue 10 1193-1196, Copyright © 1994 by American Diabetes Association
Incidence of type I diabetes in the Liguria Region, Italy. Results of a prospective study in a 0- to 14-year age-group
M Mazzella, M Cotellessa, S Bonassi, R Mulas, A Caratozzolo, S Gaber and C Romano
University Department of Pediatrics, G. Gaslini Scientific Institute, Genoa, Italy.
OBJECTIVE--To assess updated incidence of insulin-dependent diabetes
mellitus (IDDM) in 0- to 14-year-old children in Liguria, a northwest
region of Italy. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS--Incident cases were recorded
prospectively from 1987 to 1991. Incidence rates (IRs) were directly
standardized on the basis of the 1990 world population. The independent
effect of age, sex, residence, and calendar year was estimated with a
Poisson regression model. The degree of ascertainment was calculated in
accordance with the capture/recapture method. RESULTS--During 5 full
calendar years, 117 new cases of IDDM in children were diagnosed in
Liguria. The standardized IR over the 5-year period was 11.72
cases.100,000(-1).year-1. The sex-specific IR among males and females was
11.45 and 12.01, respectively. The age-specific IR was higher in the 5-9
age-group. CONCLUSIONS--The IR of IDDM in Liguria is among the highest in
southern Europe and approaches that of northern European countries. In
particular, it is much higher than those reported in the surrounding
Italian regions, except for Sardinia. Therefore, the geographical
distribution of IDDM does not seem to reflect the simple north-south
gradient reported in several previous studies.