Time trends in incidence of diabetes mellitus in Austrian children and adolescents <15 years (1989‐2017)

Abstract

ObjectiveTo analyze the time trends of nationwide diabetes incidence <15 years of age from 1989 until 2017 in Austria.MethodsThe Austrian Diabetes Incidence Study Group registers all newly diagnosed patients with diabetes mellitus <15 years of age in a prospective population‐based study. The diabetes type was classified on the basis of clinical and laboratory findings according to American Diabetes Association criteria. Time trends were estimated by Joinpoint analysis.Results1311 patients were diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (T1D) between 1989 and 1999 and 4624 patients with any type of diabetes (1999‐2017). T1D accounted for the majority of cases (94.2%), 1.8% were classified as type 2 (T2D) and 4.0% as other specific types of diabetes (1999‐2017). In the total cohort (age 0 to <15 years), a constant increase until 2012 (annual percent change [APC] 4.5, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.94, 5.06) was observed, followed by a leveling off with a corresponding drop (APC 0.28, 95%CI: −3.94, 4.69). This observation was mainly driven by the dynamic in the youngest age group (0‐4 years) with a steep increase until 2007 (APC 7.1, 95%CI: 5.05, 9.19) and a decrease from 2007 to 2017 (APC −0.86, 95%CI: 4.41, 2.82). No significant increase of T2D <15 years was detected. Over the observed time period (APC = 3.7, 95%CI: −0.30, 7.78).ConclusionsThe incidence of T1D is declining in young children aged 0 to 4 years, but is still rising in children 5 to 14 years in Austria. Incidence of T2D did not increase significantly and other specific types of diabetes occur twice as often compared to T2D.