Abstract
Aim
The aim of this study was to examine attendance for early postpartum follow-up among women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), and to identify factors that influenced their likelihood of attending.
Methods
One thousand eight hundred and nineteen women with GDM were retrospectively analyzed. During pregnancy, the following data were collected: age, family history of diabetes, ethnicity, prepregnancy BMI, fasting plasma glucose, glycated hemoglobin, gestational week of GDM diagnosis, timing and mode of delivery, newborn’s birth weight and length. Glycemia and insulinemia during OGTT, lipid profile and postpartum BMI were assessed at follow-up. Based on the OGTT, women were classified as having normal glucose tolerance (NGT) or abnormal glucose tolerance (AGT), which included impaired fasting glucose (IFG), impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), IFG + IGT, and DM2. Factors predicting postpartum attendance for follow-up and onset of AGT were considered.
Results
Of the 889 (48.9%) who attended the scheduled postpartum OGTT, 741 (83.4%) had NGT, while 148 (16.6%) had AGT (IFG 6.7%, IGT 7.7%, IFG + IGT 0.8%, DM2 1.5%). The predictors of adherence to follow-up were: not belonging to an immigrant group; family history of DM2; and insulin therapy in pregnancy. The same factors were also predictive of AGT. Our data suggest a role of ethnicity in both attendance for postpartum follow-up and its outcome.
Conclusion
Despite efforts to provide care for women with GDM, postpartum screening rates are still low among Italian women, and especially among immigrants. Hence, the need to improve these patients’ awareness of the severe risk of developing diabetes after pregnancy, concentrating efforts especially on women belonging to the most at risk ethnic groups.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article.
References
Bellamy L, Casas JP, Hingorani AD, Williams D (2009) Type 2 diabetes mellitus after gestational diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet 373(9677):1773–1779
Kwak SH, Choi SH, Jung HS et al (2013) Clinical and genetic risk factors for type 2 diabetes at early or late post partum after gestational diabetes mellitus. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 8(4):E744–E752
Ferrara A, Peng T, Kim C (2009) Trends in postpartum diabetes screening and subsequent diabetes and impaired fasting glucose among women with histories of gestational diabetes mellitus: a report from the Translating Research Into Action for Diabetes (TRIAD) study. Diabetes Care 32(2):269–274
Kim C, Newton KM, Knopp RH (2002) Gestational diabetes and the incidence of type 2 diabetes: a systematic review. Diabetes Care 25(10):1862–1868
Dabelea D, Snell-Bergeon JK, Hartsfield CL et al (2005) Increasing prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) over time and birth cohort: Kaiser permanent of Colorado GDM screening program. Diabetes Care 28:579–584
Fujimoto W, Samoa R, Wotring A (2013) Gestational diabetes in high-risk population. Clin Diabetes 31:90–94
Noctor E, Crowe C, Carmody LA et al (2015) Prevalence of metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance in women with previous gestational diabetes mellitus by International Association of Diabetes in Pregnancy Study Groups criteria. Acta Diabetol 52(1):153–156
Di Cianni G, Lencioni C, Volpe L et al (2007) C-reactive protein and metabolic syndrome in women with previous gestational diabetes. Diabetes Metab Res Rev 23(2):135–140
Burlina S, Dalfrà MG, Chilelli NC et al (2016) Gestational diabetes mellitus and future cardiovascular risk: an update. Int J Endocrinol. https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/2070926
Ratner RE, Christophi CA, Metzger BE et al (2008) Prevention of diabetes in women with a history of gestational diabetes: effects of metformin and lifestyle interventions. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 93(12):4774–4779
ACOG Practice bullettin – Obstetrics (2013) ACOG Practice Bullettin No 137: gestational diabetes mellitus. Obstet Gynecol 122:406–416
American Diabetes Association (2020) Standard of medical care in diabetes. Gestational diabetes mellitus. Diabetes Care 43(Suppl 1):S14–S31
Hod M, Kapur A, Sacks DA et al (2015) The International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) Initiative on gestational diabetes mellitus: a pragmatic guide for diagnosis, management, and care. Int J Gynaecol Obstet 131(Suppl 3):S173–S211
NICE Guideliness 2015. Diabetes in pregnancy
Pastore I, Chiefari E, Vero R et al (2018) Postpartum glucose intolerance: an updated overview. Endocrine 59:481–494
Hamel MS, Werner EF (2017) Interventions to improve rate of diabetes testing postpartum in women with gestational diabetes mellitus. Curr Diab Rep 17:1–7
International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups Consensus Panel (2010) International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups recommendations on the diagnosis and classification of hyperglycemia in pregnancy. Diabetes Care 33:676–682
Ministero della Salute. Sistema Nazionale per le Linee Guida Gravidanza Fisiologica 2014
American Diabetes Association (2020) Classification and diagnosis of diabetes. Diabetes Care 43(Suppl 1):S25–S27
Huggett AS, Nixon DA (1957) Use of glucoseoxidase, peroxidase, and O-dianisidine in determination of blood and urinaryglucose. Lancet 273(6991):368–370
Cosma C, Padoan PA, Clerico A et al (2019) C-peptide and insulin assays with the Mindray CL-2000i: precision and comparability with differen methods. Clin Chim Acta 495:210–214
Mosca A, Paleari R, Dalfrà MG et al (2006) Reference intervals for hemoglobin A1c in pregnant women: data from an Italian multicenter study. Clin Chem 52:1138–1143
Dastych M, Wiewiofka O, Benovska M (2014) Ethamsylate (Dicynone) interference in determination of serum creatinine, uric acid, triglycerides and cholesterol in assays involving the Trinder reaction: in vivo and in vitro. Clin Lab 60:1373–1376
Lawrence JM, Black MH, Hsu JW et al (2010) Prevalence and timing of postpartum glucose testing and sustained glucose dysregulation after gestational diabetes mellitus. Diabetes Care 33(3):569–576
Russell MA, Phipps MG, Olson CL et al (2006) Rates of postpartum glucose testing after gestational diabetes mellitus. Obstet Gynecol 108(6):1456–1462
Capula C, Chiefari E, Vero A et al (2014) Prevalence and predictors of postpartum glucose intolerance in italian women with gestational diabetes mellitus. Diabetes Res Clin Pract 105:223–230
Hunt KJ, Conway DL (2008) Who returns for postpartum glucose screening following gestational diabetes mellitus? Am J Obstet Gynecol 198(4):404.e1–404.e6
Waters TP, Kim SY, Sharma AJ et al (2020) Longitudinal changes in glucose metabolism in women with gestational diabetes, from late pregnancy to the postpartum period. Diabetologia 63:385–394
Blatt AJ, Nakamoto JM, Kaufman HW (2011) Gaps in diabetes screening during pregnancy and postpartum. Obstet Gynecol 117:61–68
Lapolla A, DiCianni G, DiBenedetto A et al (2012) Quality of life, wishes and needs in women with gestational diabetes: Italian DAWN pregnancy study. Endocrinology. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/784726
Dalfrà MG, Ragazzi E, Masin M et al (2001) Pregnancy outcome in immigrant women with gestational diabetes mellitus. Gynecol Endocrinol 27(6):379–383
Valentini R, Dalfrà MG, Masin M et al (2012) A pilot study on dietary approaches in multiethnicity: two methods compared. Int J Endocrinol. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/985136
Liu H, Zhang C, Zhang S et al (2014) Prepregnancy body mass index and weight change on postpartum diabetes risk among gestational diabetes. Obesity 22(6):1560–1567
Burlina S, Dalfrà MG, Lapolla A (2018) Clinical and biochemical approach to predicting post-pregnancy metabolic decompensation. Diabetes Res Clin Pract 145:178–183
Kim SH, Kim MY, Yang JH et al (2011) Nutritional risk factors of early development of postpartum prediabetes and diabetes in women with gestational diabetes mellitus. Nutrition 27(7–8):782–788
Benhalima K, Leuridan L, Calewaert P et al (2014) Glucose intolerance after a recent history of gestational diabetes. Int J Endocrinol. ID:727652
Dalfra MG, Lapolla A, Masin M et al (2001) Antepartum and early postpartum predictors of type 2 diabetes development in women with gestational diabetes mellitus. Diabetes Metab 27(6):675–680
Kampmann U, Knorr S, Fuglsang J et al (2019) Determinants of maternal insulin resistance during pregnancy: an updated over review. J Diabetes Research ID 5320156
Lapolla A, Dalfra MG, Mello G, Parretti E, Cioni R, Marzari C et al (2008) Early detection of insulin sensitivity and beta-cell function with simple tests indicates future derangements in late pregnancy. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 93(3):876–880
Ley SH, Chavarro JE, Li M et al (2020) Lactation duration and long-term risk for incident type 2 diabetes in women with a history of gestational diabetes mellitus. Diabetes Care 43:793–798
Funding
This research did not receive any grant.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflicts of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Human and animal rights
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments.
Informed consent
For this type of study, involving analysis of deidentified participant data, formal consent is not required.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
This article belongs to the topical collection Pregnancy and Diabetes, managed by Antonio Secchi and Marina Scavini.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dalfrà, M.G., Burlina, S., Del Vescovo, G.G. et al. Adherence to a follow-up program after gestational diabetes. Acta Diabetol 57, 1473–1480 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00592-020-01564-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00592-020-01564-y