Types of diabetes are not limited to age groups: type 1 diabetes in adults and type 2 diabetes in children and adolescents

Based on data from the national diabetes registry DPV (Diabetes patient documentation), the diabetes registry of North Rhine-Westphalia and surveys conducted at hospitals and practices in Baden-Württemberg and Saxony, this study estimates the incidence and prevalence of type 1 diabetes in over-18-year-old adults and type 2 diabetes in 11- to 18-year-old children and adolescents. The national incidence of type 1 diabetes in adults was 6.1 per 100,000 person-years from 2014 to 2016, with slightly lower figures for women compared to men. Annually, around 4,150 adults develop type 1 diabetes. In 2016, the prevalence of type 1 diabetes was estimated at 493 per 100,000 persons and was lower in women at 445 per 100,000 people than in men at 544 per 100,000. Based on this data, there were around 341,000 adults with type 1 diabetes in 2016. For 11- to 18-year-old children and adolescents, the national incidence of type 2 diabetes was 2.8 per 100,000 person-years between 2014 and 2016 and higher for girls than for boys. Annually, around 175 adolescents in this age group develop type 2 diabetes. The incidence estimates for Saxony were higher (4.3 per 100,000 person-years). The prevalence of type 2 diabetes between 2014 and 2016 for 11- to 18-year-old children and adolescents was estimated between 12 and 18 cases per 100,000 persons. During this period, there were about 950 children and adolescents of this age group with type 2 diabetes in Germany.