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Updated: Jul 2, 2025

A High-Throughput Multiplexed Screening for Type 1 Diabetes, Celiac Diseases, and COVID-19
Published on: July 5, 2022
Using data on biomarkers and siblings to study early-life economic determinants of type-2 diabetes
Rob J M Alessie1,2, Viola Angelini1,2, Gerard J van den Berg1,3,4,5
1University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
We study the effect of economic conditions early in life on the occurrence of type-2 diabetes in adulthood using contextual economic indicators and within-sibling pair variation. We use data from Lifelines: a longitudinal cohort study and biobank including 51,270 siblings born in the Netherlands from 1950 onward. Sibling fixed-effects account for selective fertility. To identify type-2 diabetes we use biomarkers on the hemoglobin A1c concentration and fasting glucose in the blood. We find that adverse economic conditions around birth increase the probability of type-2 diabetes later in life both in males and in females. Inference based on self-reported diabetes leads to biased results, incorrectly suggesting the absence of an effect. The same applies to inference that does not account for selective fertility.
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