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Epidemiology of childhood diabetes mellitus in Finland — background of a nationwide study of Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus
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  • Originals
  • Published: January 1992

Epidemiology of childhood diabetes mellitus in Finland — background of a nationwide study of Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus

  • J. Tuomilehto1,
  • R. Lounamaa1,
  • E. Tuomilehto-Wolf1,
  • A. Reunanen2,
  • E. Virtala1,
  • E. A. Kaprio3,
  • H. K. Åkerblom4,
  • L. Toivanen,
  • A. Fagerlund,
  • M. Flittner,
  • B. Gustafsson,
  • A. Hakulinen,
  • L. Herva,
  • P. Hiltunen,
  • T. Huhtamäki,
  • N. -P. Huttunen,
  • T. Huupponen,
  • M. Hyttinen,
  • C. Häggqvist,
  • T. Joki,
  • R. Jokisalo,
  • S. Kallio,
  • U. Kaski,
  • M. Knip,
  • M. -L. Käär,
  • L. Laine,
  • J. Lappalainen,
  • J. Mäenpää,
  • A. -L. Mäkelä,
  • K. Niemi,
  • A. Niiranen,
  • A. Nuuja,
  • P. Ojajärvi,
  • T. Otonkoski,
  • K. Pihlajamäki,
  • S. Pöntynen,
  • J. Ranjantie,
  • J. Sankala,
  • J. Schumacher,
  • M. Sillanpää,
  • C. -H. Stråhlmann,
  • M. -R. Ståhlberg,
  • T. Uotila,
  • P. Varimo,
  • G. Wetterstrand,
  • M. Väre,
  • A. Aro5,
  • H. Hurme6,
  • H. Hyöty7,
  • J. Ilonen8,
  • J. Karjalainen9,
  • R. LaPorte11,
  • P. Leinikki12,
  • A. Miettinen13,
  • L. Räsänen14,
  • E. Savilahti16 &
  • …
  • S. M. Virtanen18 

Diabetologia volume 35, pages 70–76 (1992)Cite this article

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Summary

A nationwide study of childhood Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus was established in 1986 in Finland, the country with the highest incidence of this disease worldwide. The aim of the project called “Childhood Diabetes in Finland” is to evaluate the role of genetic, environmental and immunological factors and particularly the interaction between genetic and environmental factors in the development of Type 1 diabetes. From September 1986 to April 1989, 801 families with a newly-diagnosed child aged 14 years or younger at the time of diagnosis were invited to participate in this study. The vast majority of the families agreed to participate in the comprehensive investigations of the study. HLA genotypes and haplotypes were determined in 757 families (95%). Our study also incorporates a prospective family study among non-diabetic siblings aged 3–19 years, and two case-control studies among the youngonset cases of Type 1 diabetes. During 1987–1989, the overall incidence of Type 1 diabetes was about 35.2 per 100,000 per year. It was higher in boys (38.4) than in girls (32.2). There was no clear geographic variation in incidence among the 12 provinces of Finland. Of the 1,014 cases during these 3 years only six cases were diagnosed before their first birthday. The incidence was high already in the age group 1–4-years old: 33.2 in boys and 29.5 in girls. Of the 801 families 90 (11.2%) were multiple case families, of which 66 had a parent with Type 1 diabetes at the time of diagnosis of the proband. The prevalence of Type 1 diabetes in the parents of these newly-diagnosed diabetic children was higher in fathers (5.7%) than in mothers (2.6%).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology, National Public Health Institute, Helsinki, Finland

    J. Tuomilehto, R. Lounamaa, E. Tuomilehto-Wolf & E. Virtala

  2. Research Institute for Social Security, Social Insurance Institution, Helsinki, Finland

    A. Reunanen

  3. First Department of Paediatrics, Helsinki, Finland

    E. A. Kaprio

  4. Second Department of Paediatrics, The Children's Hospital, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    H. K. Åkerblom

  5. National Public Health Institute, Helsinki

    A. Aro (Special Investigator)

  6. Pedagogic Faculty in Vaasa, Åbo Akademi, Finland

    H. Hurme (Special Investigator)

  7. Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of Tampere, Finland

    H. Hyöty (Special Investigator)

  8. National Public Health Institute, Oulu

    J. Ilonen (Special Investigator)

  9. Department of Pediatrics, University of Oulu, Finland

    J. Karjalainen (Special Investigator)

  10. Diabetes Research Center of Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, USA

    R. LaPorte (Special Investigator)

  11. National Public Health Institute, Helsinki

    P. Leinikki (Special Investigator)

  12. Department of Bacteriology and Immunology, University of Helsinki, Finland

    A. Miettinen (Special Investigator)

  13. Department of Nutrition, University of Helsinki, Finland

    L. Räsänen (Special Investigator)

  14. Children's Hospital, University of Helsinki, Finland

    E. Savilahti (Special Investigator)

  15. Department of Nutrition, University of Helsinki, Finland

    S. M. Virtanen (Special Investigator)

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  1. J. Tuomilehto
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  7. H. K. Åkerblom
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  8. L. Toivanen
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  9. A. Fagerlund
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  16. N. -P. Huttunen
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  19. C. Häggqvist
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  22. S. Kallio
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  24. M. Knip
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  26. L. Laine
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  28. J. Mäenpää
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  29. A. -L. Mäkelä
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  30. K. Niemi
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  31. A. Niiranen
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  32. A. Nuuja
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  33. P. Ojajärvi
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  34. T. Otonkoski
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  35. K. Pihlajamäki
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  36. S. Pöntynen
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  37. J. Ranjantie
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  38. J. Sankala
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  39. J. Schumacher
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  40. M. Sillanpää
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  41. C. -H. Stråhlmann
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  42. M. -R. Ståhlberg
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  43. T. Uotila
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  44. P. Varimo
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  45. G. Wetterstrand
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  46. M. Väre
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  47. A. Aro
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  48. H. Hurme
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  49. H. Hyöty
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  50. J. Ilonen
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  51. J. Karjalainen
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  52. R. LaPorte
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  53. P. Leinikki
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  54. A. Miettinen
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  55. L. Räsänen
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  56. E. Savilahti
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  57. S. M. Virtanen
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Tuomilehto, J., Lounamaa, R., Tuomilehto-Wolf, E. et al. Epidemiology of childhood diabetes mellitus in Finland — background of a nationwide study of Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus. Diabetologia 35, 70–76 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00400854

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  • Received: 28 March 1991

  • Revised: 17 September 1991

  • Issue Date: January 1992

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00400854

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Key words

  • Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus
  • epidemiology
  • genetic-environmental interaction
  • incidence
  • familial occurrence
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