Influence of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus on Diabetes Risk and Glycemic Control in a Retrospective Population-Based Cohort

Abstract

OBJECTIVE Racial/ethnic-specific estimates of the influence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) on type 2 diabetes remain underexplored in large population-based cohorts. We estimated racial/ethnic differences in the influence of GDM on diabetes risk and glycemic control in a multiethnic, population-based cohort of postpartum women. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Hospital discharge and vital registry data for New York City (NYC) births between 2009 and 2011 were linked with NYC A1C Registry data between 2009 and 2017. Women with baseline diabetes (n = 2,810) were excluded for a final birth cohort of 336,276. GDM on time to diabetes onset (two A1C tests of ≥6.5% from 12 weeks postpartum onward) or glucose control (first test of A1C <7.0% following diagnosis) was assessed using Cox regression with a time-varying exposure. Models were adjusted for sociodemographic and clinical factors and stratified by race/ethnicity. RESULTS The cumulative incidence for diabetes was 11.8% and 0.6% among women with and without GDM. The adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) of GDM status on diabetes risk was 11.5 (95% CI 10.8, 12.3) overall, with slight differences by race/ethnicity. GDM was associated with a lower likelihood of glycemic control (aHR 0.85; 95% CI 0.79, 0.92), with the largest negative influence among Black (aHR 0.77; 95% CI 0.68, 0.88) and Hispanic (aHR 0.84; 95% CI 0.74, 0.95) women. Adjustment for screening bias and loss to follow-up modestly attenuated racial/ethnic differences in diabetes risk but had little influence on glycemic control. CONCLUSIONS Understanding racial/ethnic differences in the influence of GDM on diabetes progression is critical to disrupt life course cardiometabolic disparities.

Health impacts of new‐onset diabetes in women post‐gestational diabetes mellitus: Insights from Hong Kong's territory‐wide data

“…Secondly, randomized clinical trials and cost‐effectiveness analysis are essential to discern the impact of lifestyle and other interventions post‐GDM to prevent diabetes on mitigating health risks among women with GDM. Thirdly, despite the heightened risk of developing diabetes in this population 26,27 , only about a third underwent postpartum screening for diabetes 28–30 . The misclassification of undiagnosed diabetes as GDM women who did not develop diabetes might lead to an underestimation of diabetes‐related health burden.…”