Incidence of type 1 diabetes mellitus in children in Slovenia during the years 1988-1995

The incidence of type 1 diabetes mellitus in Slovenian children aged 0 -14 years was studied between 1 January 1988 and 31 December 1995. The crude annual incidence rate of the disease (per 100 000) over this 8-year period was 8.00 (95 % C. I. 6.98 - 9.02) for both sexes (7.18 for boys and 8.87 for girls). Thus, the incidence standardized to the world population was 7.59 (95% C.I. 6.57 - 8.61). Male/female ratios were 1.33 in the age group 0 - 4 years, 0.66 in the age group 5-9 years, and 0.83 in the age group 10 -14 years. The study has proven that the incidence of type 1 diabetes in Slovenia is similar to that in other central European countries where the population is of different ethnic origin. However, a remarkably higher incidence of the disease in girls than boys except in the age group below 5 years of age was found which needs further investigation.