title: A ten-year (1989-1998) perspective study of the incidence of Type 1 diabetes in the district of Catania (Sicily) in a 0-14 year age group.
abstract: The aim of this report was to evaluate the incidence of Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) in the district of Catania (eastern Sicily) in children under 15 yr of age over a ten-yr period (01/01/1989 - 31/12/1998) in relation to age, sex, monthly-seasonal variability, calendar yr and spatial clustering. The estimated completeness of our register was 99.2%. The overall incidence rate was 12.38 per 100,000 during the period of the study. Twenty-four percent of cases were 0-4 yr at diagnosis, 42% were 5-9 yr and 34% were 10-14 yr. More males (no. 148) than females (no. 125) were newly diagnosed with a male/female ratio similar to the base population ratio in the range 0-14 yr and within age groups. The study revealed a non-random spatial distribution of T1DM incidence in children not accounted for by known demographic factors. A significant seasonal pattern and temporal trend of incidence were also detected.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Internal Medicine, Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, University of Catania, Ospedale Garibaldi, Italy. segmeint@unict.it
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Arpi
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fichera
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mancuso
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lucenti
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Italia
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tomaselli
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Motta
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mazza
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vigneri
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Purrello
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Squatrito
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012621:Seasons; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012802:Sicily / Q000453:epidemiology