Assessment of Risk Factors for Type I Diabetes Mellitus: A Case-Control Study

Epidemiologic studies show that the prevalence of type I diabetes mellitus is different in several areas in Iran. The aim of this study was comparison of the risk factors of type I diabetes between the children with and without this disease in Isfahan Province, Iran.
In a case-control study during 2013-2014, 175 patients with type I diabetes as case group and 350 healthy children as control group were selected from Imam Hossein hospital and Isfahan Endocrine and Metabolism Research Center. Risk factors of type I diabetes mellitus were compared between the two groups using SPSS software.
Findings: Season of birth, number of children, duration of using infant formula, using vitamin D supplement during pregnancy, using vitamin A and D supplement during infancy, family history of types I and II diabetes mellitus, age of attending kindergarten, duration of breast feeding and age of starting supplementary feeding were statistically different between the two groups.
According to the result of our study, in addition to genetic factors, several environmental factors have positive roles in the incidence of type I diabetes. Health providers must plan for reducing these risk factors.