Extended family history of diabetes and autoimmune diseases in children with and without type 1 diabetes.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the extended family history of diabetes or autoimmune diseases in families with and without children having type 1 diabetes.


METHODS
Three hundred case families and 381 control families were interviewed using structured questionnaires.


RESULTS
The proportion of case children having at least one relative with type 1 diabetes outside the nuclear family was higher than that of control children (50.3 vs. 31.8%, P < 0.001). The proportions of case and control children having relatives with type 2 diabetes or gestational diabetes were similar. Other autoimmune diseases occurred more frequently among the case children (9.7 vs. 1.1%, P < 0.001), in the case nuclear families (22.0 vs. 12.9%, P = 0.002) and in relatives outside the case nuclear family (72.0 vs. 62.2%, P = 0.007).


CONCLUSIONS
Type 1 diabetes and autoimmune diseases not only cluster in the nuclear families of children with type 1 diabetes but are also overrepresented in their extended families.
Alhonen
Salla
S
Department of Pediatrics, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.
Korhonen
Sari
S
Tapanainen
Päivi
P
Knip
Mikael
M
Veijola
Riitta
R
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000453:epidemiology; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D055815:Young Adult