STEEP INCREASE IN DIABETES TYPE 1 INCIDENCE IN AUSTRIA SINCE 1999 in a prior study in Austria Fathers of diabetic children were significantly older

1: Eur J Pediatr. 2007 Apr 24; [Epub ahead of print] Links
Steep increase of incidence of childhood diabetes since 1999 in Austria. Time trend analysis 1979-2005. A nationwide study.Schober E, Rami B, Waldhoer T; Austrian Diabetes Incidence Study Group.
Department of Paediatrics, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.

In a prospective population-based incidence study all newly diagnosed type 1 diabetic patients 0-<15 years of age were registered by the Austrian Diabetes Incidence Study Group. The nationwide incidence of type 1 diabetes between 2000-2005 was compared with the previously published incidence rates. Long-term trends as well as seasonal trends were estimated by Poisson regression models. A total of 3,599 incident cases (1,908 boys; 1,691 girls) were identified. Case ascertainment was >92%. The overall incidence rate doubled from 7.3 (95% CI; 6.8-7.9)/100,000 in the period 1979-84 to 14.6 (95% CI, 13.7-15.4)/100,000 in the time period 2000-2005. A significant increase during the observation period of 26 years could be demonstrated in all age groups and both sexes (p<0.01), with the steepest increment during the last 5 years. Until 1994 the incidence rate in children 0-<5 years was rather stable, but afterwards increased dramatically with 9.2% (95% CI, 5.2-13.4) annually. Despite this steep increase in time trend, we did not observe a seasonal variation in this age group (0-<5) in contrast to significant seasonal variations in the groups 5-<10 and 10-<15 years of age. Over the past 26 years incidence of type 1 diabetes in childhood increased clearly in Austria. The steepest rise was observed in the last 5 years and in the younger age groups.

PMID: 17453237 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

1: Eur J Pediatr. 1999 May;158(5):362-6. Links
Risk factors for type I diabetes mellitus in children in Austria
Rami B, Schneider U, Imhof A, Waldhor T, Schober E.
University Children's Hospital Vienna, Austria.

The aim of this study was to investigate environmental risk factors in the development of type 1 diabetes mellitus in a population-based case-control study. Parents of all patients with manifestation of type 1 diabetes between 1989 and 1994 in Vienna were asked to complete a questionnaire (n = 114). Control children (n = 495), matched for age and sex, were randomly recruited from all schools in Vienna. Fathers of diabetic children were significantly older at the time their children were born than fathers of control children (P = 0.015). Children with diabetes were more likely to be second- or third-born children (P<0.05) and fewer went to kindergarten than the control group children (P = 0.007). No significant difference in duration of gestation, percentage of delivery by caesarean section, birth weight or length was found. Neonatal jaundice was more often observed in the patient group (P = 0.038). Breast feeding was reported by 82.7% of mothers of diabetic children and by 81% of mothers of control children, and the duration of breast feeding was longer in patients than in controls (n.s.). CONCLUSION: In our study, the development of type 1 diabetes mellitus was associated with higher paternal age and neonatal jaundice. No correlation could be found with dietary intake of cow's milk products in early infancy, vaccination and other environmental factors.
PMID: 10333115 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]





ENDOCRINOLOGY
B. Rami á U. Schneider á A. Imhof á T. WaldhoÈ r á E. Schob
Risk factors for type I diabetes mellitus
in children in Austria
Received: 5 May 1998 / Accepted in revised form: 27 August 1998
Eur J Pediatr (1999) 158: 362±366



Fathers of diabetic children were significantly older at the time their children were born than fathers of control children (P = 0.015).




Results
Family/social factors
Fathers of type 1 diabetes cases were signi®cantly older
at the time of birth than fathers of control children
(31.7 ‹ 6.7 vs 30.1 ‹ 6.1 years, P = 0.015). Mothers
of children with diabetes did not di€er signi®cantly in
age at the birth of their children from mothers of con-
trols (27.8 ‹ 5.7 vs 26.9 ‹ 5.1 years, P = 0.13).

Discussion
Previous reports have shown that the risk for type 1
diabetes increases with higher maternal age [3, 6, 24, 30,
33, 40, 41]; only one study group from India reported a
higher risk with lower maternal age [31]. Mothers of
Austrian children with diabetes were older, too, but this
was statistically not signi®cant. In those reports, pater-
nal age as a possible risk factor was not investigated as
much, but either no di€erence was found compared to
controls [3, 5], or fathers of diabetic children were even
younger than fathers of control children [40]. These re-
sults thus contradict our ®ndings. As far as birth order
in our cohort families was concerned, again in contrast
to previous studies [30, 40, 41], the highest risk was
observed in second- or third-born children.