Researchers think this condition (characterized by fingers curling into the palm of the hand) has a strong genetic component. This idea is supported by the fact that Dupuytren's disease is more common in people of northern European descent than in people from southern Europe and elsewhere. These patterns have led researchers to believe that genetics plays a role in Dupuytren's disease.

Researchers recently compared numbers of people with Dupuytren's disease in northern Norway. They found that the disease was more common in ethnic Norwegians than in Sami, an aboriginal people who are ethnically distinct from Norwegians. This seems to confirm the importance of genetics in the disease.