Kyvik K O, Green A, Beck-Nielsen H
Genetic Epidemiology Research Unit, University of Odense, Denmark.
Int J Epidemiol. 1995 Jun;24(3):589-96. doi: 10.1093/ije/24.3.589.
Twin registers provide a valuable source for research into disease causation. The existing population-based registers comprise mostly old twins. In order to be able to study diseases which occur in childhood and youth a new Danish twin register has been established.
The register is based on the Danish Civil Registration, with information on number of twin births from the Danish Vital Statistics Office as the source of validation. All twins resident in Denmark at 1 March 1991 were sent a one-side questionnaire asking about diabetes, willingness to participate in other research projects and similarity in the twins.
The register, comprising 20,888 twin pairs, covers 74.4% of all twin pairs born 1953-1967 (incl.) and 97.4% of those born 1968-1982 (incl.). The response rate to the questionnaire study was 92.3%. The responders represented 19,180 twin pairs distributed as 5304 monozygotic pairs, 6861 same-sex dizygotic pairs, 6244 opposite-sex dizygotic pairs and 771 pairs of unknown zygosity. Of the respondent twins, 96% declared their willingness to participate in additional studies. An analysis of trends in the twinning rates for the years 1968-1982 showed that the rate of monozygotic twinning is increasing and the twinning rate of opposite-sex twin pairs is decreasing.
Earlier estimated trends in twinning rates have been confirmed. Due to the high response rate and opportunities for linkage with other Danish registers, the present material provides a valuable resource for twin studies in diseases and human traits.
双胞胎登记册为疾病病因研究提供了宝贵资源。现有的基于人群的登记册大多包含年长的双胞胎。为了能够研究儿童期和青年期出现的疾病，丹麦建立了一个新的双胞胎登记册。
该登记册基于丹麦民事登记系统，以丹麦人口动态统计办公室的双胞胎出生数量信息作为验证来源。向1991年3月1日居住在丹麦的所有双胞胎发放了一份单面问卷，询问有关糖尿病、参与其他研究项目的意愿以及双胞胎之间的相似性。
该登记册包含20,888对双胞胎，涵盖了1953年至1967年（含）出生的所有双胞胎对中的74.4%，以及1968年至1982年（含）出生的双胞胎对中的97.4%。问卷研究的回复率为92.3%。回复者代表19,180对双胞胎，分布为5304对同卵双胞胎、6861对同性异卵双胞胎、6244对异性异卵双胞胎和771对合子性未知的双胞胎。在回复的双胞胎中，96%表示愿意参与额外的研究。对1968年至1982年双胞胎出生率趋势的分析表明，同卵双胞胎出生率在上升，异性双胞胎对的出生率在下降。
早期估计的双胞胎出生率趋势得到了证实。由于高回复率以及与丹麦其他登记册建立联系的机会，本资料为疾病和人类特征的双胞胎研究提供了宝贵资源。
