Abstract
Clinical observations were carried out on 552 patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) who had developed the diseaset below the age of 30 and had been followed up by members of the Kyushu Diabetes Research Group in 20 medical agencies covering the entire Kyushu area of southern Japan (population 13, 602, 000). Among the patients, 152 cases had an age of onset below 15 yr (group A), 235 between 15 and 25 yr (group B), and 165 between 25 and 30 yr (group C).
The incidence of females was significantly higher than that of males among patients who developed DM below the age of 25, whereas this was not the case among patients who developed DM between the ages of 25 and 30.
The incidence of insulin dependency was highest in group A patients and lowest in group C patients.
Among the patients who developed DM below the age of 25, the incidence of insulin dependency was significantly higher in those lacking a family history of DM than in those with a family history of DM. However, among group C patients, no significant difference in the incidence of insulin dependency between patients with and without a family history of DM was observed.
The above results suggest firstly that group C patients differ from group A or B patients in their clinical features, and secondly that a higher incidence of insulin dependency is associated with a younger age of onset and absence of a family history of DM.
No seasonal fluctuations in the onset of juvenile-onset diabetes were observed insofar as the present study was concerned.
