The Swedish childhood diabetes study ? social and perinatal determinants for diabetes in childhood

Abstract

Using the Swedish childhood diabetes register, a nationwide, case-referent study was performed from September 1, 1985 to August 31, 1986. Based on the information from a mailed questionnaire sent to all incident diabetic children and for each diabetic child - two referent children matched according to age, sex, and county, we have analysed perinatal events and aspects of the social environment as possible risk factors for Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes in childhood. A significantly larger proportion of the mothers of the diabetic children were older than 40 years compared to those of the referent children (33% and 24%, p = 0.01 respectively). A smaller percentage of mothers of the diabetic children had a high educational level compared to mothers of referent children (10% and 15%, p = 0.03 respectively) and 39% of the fathers of the diabetic children were manual workers compared to 31% of the fathers of referent children (p = 0.03). Perinatal events did not differ between diabetic and referent children. In children 0-6 years, the duration of breast-feeding was significantly shorter in diabetic children than among referent children (median duration for diabetic children 5 months compared to 6 months for referent children p = 0.03). When considering the presence of Type 1 diabetes among relatives, maternal age over 40 years, low educational level of the mother, and the father being a manual worker as risk factors, the presence of 1 to 4 of any of these risk factors increased the relative risk for Type 1 diabetes cumulatively from 1.2-7.5.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The Swedish childhood diabetes study ? a multivariate analysis of risk determinants for diabetes in different age groups

“…An incident case-referent study covering all recent-onset diabetic children in Sweden and two age-, sex-and cotmtymatched referent children traced with the official population register was performed during the period 1 September 1985 to 1 September 1986. The results of this study have been analysed in blocks, based on a conceptual model [2] and using standard epidemiological methods with internal standardizations. An increased risk of developing Type 1 diabetes in childhood was indicated by the following factors: 1) Reported presence of insulintreated as well as non-insulin-treated diabetes, thyroid and rheumatic disease among relatives [3].…”

“…An increased risk of developing Type 1 diabetes in childhood was indicated by the following factors: 1) Reported presence of insulintreated as well as non-insulin-treated diabetes, thyroid and rheumatic disease among relatives [3]. 2) Maternal age over 40 years, low maternal education and a short duration of breast-feeding [2]. 3) A high frequency of intake of foods rich in protein, nitrosamine and nitrites/nitrates as well as complex carbohydrates and a low frequency of milk intake [4].…”

“…3) A high frequency of intake of foods rich in protein, nitrosamine and nitrites/nitrates as well as complex carbohydrates and a low frequency of milk intake [4]. 4) A high frequency of infectious disease during the year preceding the onset and no vaccination against measles [5], stressed life events [6] and rapid growth (Blom L, Persson L-A, Dahlquist G., Unpublished data).…”

“…The univariate analyses indicated that some of the risk factors were of significance only in certain age groups [2,5]. The results of these studies have now been re-analysed by multivariate methods: (1) To identify which set of risk determinants will independently predict childhood diabetes when considered together.…”

Long-term detrimental consequences of the onset of type 1 diabetes on annual earnings—evidence from annual registry data in 1990–2005

“…However, a potential weakness in the study design was the assumption of no differences prior to onset of diabetes, as two studies have pointed to a possible association between socioeconomic status and the incidence of childhood onset of type 1 diabetes [36,37]. Parental human capital is also associated with their children's labour-market outcomes [13,14], and crude comparisons would then overstate the pure diabetes-related effect on earnings.…”