[The prevalence and incidence of juvenile onset insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in France (author's transl)].

From notification of cases the prevalence and incidence of juvenile diabetes has been estimated in the population of France. Only diabetes treated with insulin has been considered. The prevalence of diabetes in children at the end of 1975 was one per 4,200 children who had not yet reached their 15th birthday. The number of cases increased regularly with each year of age. There are more boys than girls with diabetes but the sex ratio does not, in fact, differ significantly from that of the normal population. The incidence for 1975 was one per 27,000 children aged 0 to 14 years, i.e. one new juvenile diabetic per year can be expected in a population of 100,000 inhabitants of all ages. Diabetes was diagnosed more often in the children in October, November, December, January and February regardless of age (0 to 4; 0 to 19). Comparison of the french data with information collected from published literature and from other personal sources shows some similarities but also many marked differences between countries. Some of these differences may be due to different methods of ascertainment. Standardisation of methods is a prerequisite for comparability of data.