A case-control study of environmental factors associated with diabetes in the under 5s.

In 1992 a national case-control study was conducted through the British Paediatric Association Surveillance Unit (BPASU) framework to evaluate both the incidence of IDDM in children under 5 in that year and the effects of various putative trigger factors in the disease pathogenesis. A total of 218 sets of matched case-control questionnaire data established that paternal IDDM (odds ratio (OR) = 16.11, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.94-133.7, p < = 0.001) is independently associated with increased risk, and higher birth order (OR = 0.64, CI 0.44-0.94, p = 0.021) and paternal age greater than 25 years (age 25-39 OR = 0.52, CI 0.30-0.89; age 40 + OR = 0.23, CI 0.08-0.67, p = 0.009) with decreased risk of diabetes. Other factors previously implicated in the disease pathogenesis (birthweight, parental socio-economic status, infant feeding, and immunization record) showed no significant independent association with disease development.