Sociodemographic Correlates of the Increasing Trend in Prevalence of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus in a Large Population of Women Between 1995 and 2005

Abstract

OBJECTIVE -Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is an increasingly prevalent risk factor for the development of type 2 diabetes in the mother and is responsible for morbidity in the child. To better identify women at risk of developing GDM we examined sociodemographic correlates and changes in the prevalence of GDM among all births between 1995 and 2005 in Australia's largest state. ] for decreasing socioeconomic status quartiles). Increasing age was strongly associated with GDM, with women aged Ͼ40 years having an adjusted OR of 6.13 (95% CI 5.79 -6.49) relative to women in their early 20s. Parity was associated with a small reduced risk. There was no association between smoking and GDM. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSCONCLUSIONS -Maternal age, socioeconomic position, and ethnicity are important correlates of GDM. Future culturally specific interventions should target prevention of GDM in these high-risk groups.

Prevalence and risk factors of gestational diabetes in Punjab, North India: results from a population screening program

“…Other recent studies have reported a weak impact of BMI on risk of T2D in a low income country (21). Increasing age is major risk factor for T2D (22,23). Increasing age was independently associated with increasing FPG but not significantly with increased 2-h PG levels in the linear regression analysis including all 5100 pregnant North Indian women.…”

“…While follow-up studies of mothers and offspring are planned for the future, it needs to be emphasized that such studies will not answer the most crucial questions of the causality of adverse outcomes associated with GDM. A meta-analysis from 2008 concluded that there is insufficient evidence to show beneficial effects of intensive glucose-lowering treatment for long-term adverse GDM complications, including risk of dysmetabolic traits in the offspring (23). Importantly, it was mentioned that potential residual confounding risk factors such as educational status, body fat content and distribution, urbanisation, etc., and not necessarily elevated plasma glucose level per se, might be responsible for some adverse pregnancy outcomes associated with GDM.…”

Impact of gestational diabetes on the risk of diabetes following pregnancy among Chinese and South Asian women

“…A large Australian study demonstrated that women born in East or South Asia had an increased risk of developing GDM relative to women born in Australia (ORs 3.2 and 4.2, Results are presented as %, unless stated otherwise respectively) [27]. Similarly, a smaller study in New York City demonstrated an increased risk of GDM among virtually all minority populations compared with whites, including an adjusted relative risk of 2.3 for Chinese women and 4.7 for South Asian women [28].…”

Effect of GSTM1, GSTT1, and GSTP1 IIe105Val polymorphisms on susceptiblity to gestational diabetes mellitus

“…The etiology of gestational diabetes mellitus is not well-understood. The pathogenesis of gestational diabetes mellitus involves many complex environmental and lifestyle factors, such as pregnancies at an older age, high pre-pregnancy weight and BMI, hydramnios, a history of gestational diabetes mellitus, a history of type 2 diabetes, vaginal candida infection, and a history of gestational diabetes (Kühl, 1991;Damm, 1998;Kopp, 2005;Anna et al, 2008;Savitz et al, 2008;Sella et al, 2013;Moon et al, 2015). However, not all pregnant women exposed to certain risk factors go on to develop gestational diabetes mellitus, suggesting that hereditary factors may contribute to the occurrence of this disease.…”