Obesity, gestational age at gestational diabetes diagnosis, and method of glucose control are risk factors for the subsequent development of type 2 diabetes among women with previous gestational diabetes, according to the authors of this review.
Abstract
We conducted a systematic review of studies examining risk factors for the development of type 2 diabetes among women with previous gestational diabetes. Our search strategy yielded 14 articles that evaluated 9 categories of risk factors of type 2 diabetes in women with gestational diabetes: anthropometry, pregnancy-related factors, postpartum factors, parity, family history of type 2 diabetes, maternal lifestyle factors, sociodemographics, oral contraceptive use, and physiologic factors. The studies provided evidence that the risk of type 2 diabetes was significantly higher in women having increased anthropometric characteristics with relative measures of association ranging from 0.8 to 8.7 and women who used insulin during pregnancy with relative measures of association ranging between 2.8 and 4.7. A later gestational age at diagnosis of gestational diabetes, >24 weeks gestation on average, was associated with a reduction in risk of development of type 2 diabetes with relative measures of association ranging between 0.35 and 0.99. We concluded that there is substantial evidence for 3 risk factors associated with the risk of type 2 diabetes in women having gestational diabetes.
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— Kesha Baptiste-Roberts, PhD, MPH, Bethany B. Barone, ScM, Tiffany L. Gary, PhD, MHS, Sherita H. Golden, MD, MHS, Lisa M. Wilson, ScM, Eric B. Bass, MD, MPH, Wanda K. Nicholson, MD, MPH
This article was originally published in the March 2009 issue of The American Journal of Medicine.
