Diabetes mellitus in Kuwait. Incidence in the first 29 years of life.

The annual incidence of diabetes mellitus among Kuwaiti subjects 0-29 years of age during 1980-1981 was found to be 22.09 per 100,000. There was a very low incidence in the 0-14 and 0-19 year age groups (3.96 per 100,000 and 5.61 per 100,000, respectively). The age distribution at onset shows an increase in incidence with age without exhibiting any remarkable peaks. The total number of female diabetic patients exceeded the number of males by 32%, the male/female sex ratio being found to be 0.68, which is significantly less than that of the same age group in the general population.