Trends in the incidence of childhood type 1 diabetes after the COVID-19 lockdown in Finland: An observational study
by Susanna Tall, Maaret Turtinen, Anna Parviainen, Jenni Pettersson, Anna But, Taina Härkönen, Jussi Hepojoki, Tarja Sironen, Rommel Iheozor-Ejiofor, Hasan Uğurlu, Kalle Saksela, Jorma Ilonen, Suvi M. Virtanen, Olli Vapalahti, Mikael Knip, on behalf of the Finnish Pediatric Diabetes Register Background While COVID-19 lockdowns have been systematically associated with increased incidence rate of…
A recent observational study conducted by Finnish researchers has shed light on the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on the incidence of type 1 diabetes in children. The study, published in the journal Diabetes/Metabolism Research and Reviews, compared the incidence rates before, during, and after the pandemic-related closure of society in Finland.
The findings reveal a significant decrease in childhood type 1 diabetes incidence during the lockdown compared to the lockdown period itself. However, this decrease did not persist, and the incidence returned to its pre-pandemic levels after the lockdown. The research also highlights a notable increase in the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among children following the lockdown, suggesting an indirect rather than a direct link between the virus and changes in type 1 diabetes incidence.
The study's limitations include a relatively short follow-up period and the absence of explicit modeling to account for the long-term secular trend in type 1 diabetes incidence.
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