A nationwide retrospective study was conducted to assess the incidence of type I diabetes in The Netherlands among children <20 years of age in 1988–1990. The first study with a similar design covered 1978–1980.
The capture recapture census method was chosen for analysis of the data. A questionnaire was sent to all Dutch pediatricians and internists, and for the ascertainment, a similar questionnaire was sent out separately to members of the Dutch Diabetes Association, which is the national patient association.
The average achieved ascertainment rate was 81%. The ascertainmentadjusted annual incidence was 13.2/100,000 for 0- to 19-year-old children, indicating an increase of 23% compared with the 1978–1980 survey; for 0- to 14-year-olds, the increase amounted to 17%.
This study suggests a sustained increase of type I diabetes in The Netherlands because the cumulative incidence studied previously in the 1960–1970 birth cohorts of male army conscripts 18 years of age was also found to rise. In contrast to Northern European countries, an increase in incidence for the age category 0–4 years could not be found.
