Abstract
This study included 509 patients (193 males, 316 females) with IDDM diagnosed before the age of 30, between 1963 and 1990, who had been treated at the Diabetes Center of Tokyo Women's Medical College for more than a year. Mortality was calculated by a direct method, starting from the first visit to the Diabetes Center up to the end of follow up. Out of the 509 patients, 435 (85.5%) were followed at the Diabetes Center unitil death or unitil July of 1992. A medical questionnaire was sent to the remaining 74 patients, resulting in an ascertainment of 95.9%(488/509) of all subjects. Of the 488, 11 patients were deceased, resulting in a standardized mortality ratio (SMR) of 2.8. Causes of death were diabetic nephropathy in 4, coronary artery disease in 2, diabetic ketoacidosis in 1 and unknown in 4. The mortality of our IDDM patients between 1963 and 1990 is lower than previous data from Japanese IDDM patients, based on a population based cohort reported by the Diabetes Epidemiology Research International Mortality Study Group.
