This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
New analysis finds higher incidence of type 1 diabetes in Sweden
The incidence of type 1 diabetes among adolescents and young adults in Sweden is two to three times higher than previously believed, according to research published in Diabetologia journal — findings that have potential implications for other high-income countries.
In a study at the University of Gothenburg, Araz Rawshawni, MD, and colleagues reassessed the incidence rates for type 1 diabetes in patients aged 0 to 34 years, as previously reported by the Diabetes Incidence Study in Sweden (DISS). These rates were already believed to be the second highest in the world.
Araz Rawshawni
The researchers used capture–recapture methods to evaluate DISS estimates for patients aged 20 to 34 years for 2007 to 2009. They examined Sweden’s Prescribed Drug Register (PDR) and established a type 1 diabetes diagnosis based on prescription medications of patients aged 0 to 34. Men with at least one prescription of insulin and women with at least three (to avoid confusion with gestational diabetes) were classified as having type 1 diabetes, if they had not received oral glucose-lowering drugs. Those results were compared against incidence rates in patients aged 14 years and younger in the Swedish Childhood Diabetes Register (SCDR) and diabetes type among patients aged 18 to 34 years in the National Diabetes Register (NDR).
The absolute number of cases in patients aged 20 to 34 years was 435 in the DISS; 923 in the NDR; 1,217 in the PDR; 1,431 in all three; and 1,617 per the capture–recapture method. Ascertainment in the DISS was approximately 29% for 2007 to 2009. The proxy diagnosis in the PDR was highly reliable.
“We believe that the Prescribed Drug Register is likely to be the gold standard for monitoring the incidence of type 1 diabetes, particularly in patients age 30 and younger,” the researchers wrote. “This method is feasible, reliable and cost-effective.”
Funding: The study was funded by the National Diabetes Register in Sweden.
Disclosures: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.