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Hospital differences in special care nursery use for newborns of gestational diabetic mothers
Abstract
Objective:
Relatively healthy newborns of mothers with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) sometimes receive unwarranted surveillance. We studied the relationship between hospital characteristics and special care nursery use and total length of stay among GDM deliveries.
Methods:
We identified GDM deliveries at 44 USA member hospitals of the National Perinatal Information Center from 2007 to 2011. To study low risk, relatively healthy newborns with presumed discretion in special care nursery use, we analyzed 43 444 singleton newborns with only minor or moderate complications and WHO were not preterm or low birthweight.
Results:
Among eligible newborns, 6% received special care, but this ranged from 1% to 16% across 44 hospitals studied. Unadjusted associations suggested special care nursery use was highest in academic teaching hospitals, the Midwest, hospitals with ≥40% Medicaid births, and hospitals with a high supply of special care nursery beds. However, after controlling for clustering within hospitals, there were no significant associations between hospital characteristics and special care nursery use or length of stay.
Conclusions:
Hospital-level variation in special care nursery use and length of stay of relatively healthy newborns of mothers with GDM is unexplained by hospital characteristics and suggests other operational or management factors impacting utilization of newborn care resources.
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The purpose of this study was to determine racial/ethnic differences in perinatal outcomes among women with gestational diabetes mellitus.
We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 32,193 singleton births among women with gestational diabetes mellitus in California from 2006, using Vital Statistics Birth and Death Certificate and Patient Discharge Data. Data were divided by race/ethnicity: white, black, Hispanic, or Asian. Multivariable logistic regression was used to analyze associations between race/ethnicity and adverse outcomes that were controlled for potential confounders. Outcomes included primary cesarean delivery, preeclampsia, neonatal hypoglycemia, preterm delivery, macrosomia, fetal anomaly, and respiratory distress syndrome.
Compared with women in other races, black women had higher odds of preeclampsia (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.57; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.47-1.95), neonatal hypoglycemia (aOR, 1.79; 95% CI, 1.07-3.00), and preterm delivery <37 weeks' gestation (aOR, 1.56; 95% CI, 1.33-1.83). Asian women had the lowest odds of primary cesarean delivery (aOR, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.69-0.82), large-for-gestational-age infants (aOR, 0.40; 95% CI, 0.33-0.48), and neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (aOR, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.40-0.73).
Perinatal outcomes among women with gestational diabetes mellitus differ by race/ethnicity and may be attributed to inherent sociocultural differences that may impact glycemic control, the development of chronic comorbidities, genetic variability, and variation in access to prenatal care, and quantity and quality of prenatal care.
Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is one of the most common pregnancy complications. Although long-term trends are available at the national level, they are less clear for population subgroups, especially those with middle or low income and also at high risk of obesity.
We conducted a retrospective study among women aged 15-50 years with live deliveries between January 1, 1997, and December 31, 2009, at the Louisiana State University Health Care Services Division hospital system. Pregnancies and GDM cases were identified by using ICD-9 code from the Louisiana State University Hospital-Based Longitudinal Study database. The annual incidence of GDM and its standard error (SE) were calculated and stratified by age group and race.
A total of 2751 GDM incident cases were identified among 62,685 pregnancies between 1997 and 2009. The crude incidence of GDM increased from 4.1% in 1997 to 4.4% in 2009 (increased by 7.3%), and the age-standardized incidence of GDM increased from 5.8% to 7.5% (increased by 29.3%). The incidence of GDM increased with age and reached a peak at 35-39 years of age and then declined in women who were 40-50 years old. Among the three studied races, Asians had significantly higher incidence of GDM than whites and African Americans.
The incidence of GDM increased in most years from 1997 to 2009 and reached a peak in 2002 in the women served by Louisiana State University Health Care Services Division hospitals. GDM has become an important public health problem, particularly among women aged 35-39 years.
To evaluate the performance of APR-DRG (All Patient Refined-Diagnosis Related Group) Risk of Mortality (ROM) score as a mortality risk adjustor in the intensive care unit (ICU).
Retrospective analysis of hospital mortality.
Medical ICU in a university hospital located in metropolitan New York.
1213 patients admitted between February 2004 and March 2006.
Mortality rate correlated significantly with increasing APR-DRG ROM scores (p < 0.0001). Multiple logistic regression analysis demonstrated that, after adjusting for patient age and disease group, APR-DRG ROM was significantly associated with mortality risk in patients, with a one unit increase in APR-DRG ROM associated with a 3-fold increase in mortality.
APR-DRG ROM correlates closely with ICU mortality. Already available for many hospitalized patients around the world, it may provide a readily available means for severity-adjustment when physiologic scoring is not available.
To examine trends in the prevalence of diabetes among delivery hospitalizations in the U.S. and to describe the characteristics of these hospitalizations.
Hospital discharge data from 1994 through 2004 were obtained from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample. Diagnosis codes were selected for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, and unspecified diabetes. Rates of delivery hospitalization with diabetes were calculated per 100 deliveries.
Overall, an estimated 1,863,746 hospital delivery discharges contained a diabetes diagnosis, corresponding to a rate of 4.3 per 100 deliveries over the 11-year period. GDM accounted for the largest proportion of delivery hospitalizations with diabetes (84.7%), followed by type 1 (7%), type 2 (4.7%), and unspecified diabetes (3.6%). From 1994 to 2004, the rates for all diabetes, GDM, type 1 diabetes, and type 2 diabetes significantly increased overall and within each age-group (15-24, 25-34, and > or =35 years) (P < 0.05). The largest percent increase for all ages was among type 2 diabetes (367%). By age-group, the greatest percent increases for each diabetes type were among the two younger groups. Significant predictors of diabetes at delivery included age > or =35 years vs. 15-24 years (odds ratio 4.80 [95% CI 4.72-4.89]), urban versus rural location (1.14 [1.11-1.17]), and Medicaid/Medicare versus other payment sources (1.29 [1.26-1.32]).
Given the increasing prevalence of diabetes among delivery hospitalizations, particularly among younger women, it will be important to monitor trends in the pregnant population and target strategies to minimize risk for maternal/fetal complications.
The prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) varies in direct proportion with the prevalence of type 2 diabetes in a given population or ethnic group. Given that the number of people with diabetes worldwide is expected to increase at record levels through 2030, we examined temporal trends in GDM among diverse ethnic groups.
Kaiser Permanente of Colorado (KPCO) has used a standard protocol to universally screen for GDM since 1994. This report is based on 36,403 KPCO singleton pregnancies occurring between 1994 and 2002 and examines trends in GDM prevalence among women with diverse ethnic backgrounds.
The prevalence of GDM among KPCO members doubled from 1994 to 2002 (2.1-4.1%, P < 0.001), with significant increases in all racial/ethnic groups. In logistic regression, year of diagnosis (odds ratio [OR] and 95% CI per 1 year = 1.12 [1.09-1.14]), mother's age (OR per 5 years = 1.7 [1.6-1.8]) and ethnicity other than non-Hispanic white (OR = 2.1 [1.9-2.4]) were all significantly associated with GDM. Birth year remained significant (OR = 1.06, P = 0.006), even after adjusting for prior GDM history.
This study shows that the prevalence of GDM is increasing in a universally screened multiethnic population. The increasing GDM prevalence suggests that the vicious cycle of diabetes in pregnancy initially described among Pima Indians may also be occurring among other U.S. ethnic groups.
We analyzed gestational diabetes mellitus trends in New York City between 1990 and 2001 by using information obtained from birth certificates. Gestational diabetes diagnoses among women who delivered babies increased 46%, from 2.6% (95% confidence interval [CI]=2.5, 2.7) to 3.8% (95% CI=3.7, 3.9) of births. Prevalence was highest among South and Central Asian women (11%). Given risks for adverse fetal outcomes and maternal chronic diabetes, prompt screening is critical. Metabolic control should be maintained during pregnancy and assessed postpartum for women with gestational diabetes.
We used Minnesota birth certificate data from 1993-2003 to test 2 hypotheses: rates of diabetes-complicated pregnancy are increasing, and disparities between more and less socially advantaged groups are widening. Significant increases occurred in rates (per 1000 live births) of prepregnancy and gestational diabetes mellitus (from 2.6 to 4.9 and 25.6 to 34.8, respectively). Increases were significant in all demographic groups except gestational diabetes among American Indian mothers, and disparities worsened among all groups. Targeted interventions and surveillance improvements are needed.
Introduction:
Gestational diabetes and pregnancy-related hypertension can lead to adverse health effects in mothers and infants. We assessed recent trends in the rates of these conditions in Los Angeles County, California.
Methods:
Hospital discharge data were used to identify all women aged 15-54 years who resided in the county, had a singleton delivery from 1991 through 2003, and had gestational diabetes or pregnancy-related hypertension listed as a discharge diagnosis at the time of delivery. The prevalence of each condition was calculated by calendar year, race/ethnicity, and age group. Temporal trends in the rates were assessed by using negative binomial regression models, controlling for race/ethnicity and age. Separate models were run for each racial/ethnic and age group.
Results:
The age-adjusted prevalence of gestational diabetes increased more than threefold (from 14.5 cases per 1000 women in 1991 to 47.9 cases per 1000 in 2003). The age-adjusted prevalence of pregnancy-related hypertension also increased (from 40.5 cases per 1000 in 1991 to 54.4 cases per 1000 in 2003). In the multivariable regression analysis, the annual rate increase for gestational diabetes was 8.3% overall and was highest among Hispanics (9.9%). The annual rate increase for pregnancy-related hypertension was 2.8% overall and was highest among blacks (4.8%).
Conclusion:
The rates of gestational diabetes and pregnancy-related hypertension are increasing in Los Angeles County. Further research is needed to determine the causes of the observed increases and the growing racial/ethnic disparities in those rates.
To determine the extent to which hospitals vary in the use of intensive care, and the proportion of variation attributable to differences in hospital practice that is independent of known patient and hospital factors.
Hospital discharge data in the State Inpatient Database for Maryland and Washington States in 2006.
Cross-sectional analysis of 90 short-term, acute care hospitals with critical care capabilities. DATA COLLECTION/METHODS: We quantified the proportion of variation in intensive care use attributable to hospitals using intraclass correlation coefficients derived from mixed-effects logistic regression models after successive adjustment for known patient and hospital factors.
The proportion of hospitalized patients admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) across hospitals ranged from 3 to 55 percent (median 12 percent; IQR: 9, 17 percent). After adjustment for patient factors, 19.7 percent (95 percent CI: 15.1, 24.4) of total variation in ICU use across hospitals was attributable to hospitals. When observed hospital characteristics were added, the proportion of total variation in intensive care use attributable to unmeasured hospital factors decreased by 26-14.6 percent (95 percent CI: 11, 18.3 percent).
Wide variability exists in the use of intensive care across hospitals, not attributable to known patient or hospital factors, and may be a target to improve efficiency and quality of critical care.
Objectives:
To assess the maternal and fetal complications of pregnancy in mothers with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) compared with non-diabetic patients who delivered in the hospital during the study period.
Methods:
The outcome of pregnancy in 220 Saudi patients with GDM identified from the delivery register/hospital database and matched for age, parity and body mass index with 220 non-diabetic controls were studied retrospectively from their case files. Patients with multiple pregnancies and abnormal presentation of the fetus were excluded from the study.
Results:
The GDM patients were treated with either diet alone or with additional insulin in some patients who required better control of their blood sugar levels. Patients with GDM had a significantly higher incidence of pre-eclampsia (p<0.0001); preterm delivery (p=0.0226); induction of labor (p<0.0001); cesarean section (p=0.0019); higher mean birth weight (p<0.0001) of babies; large for gestational age infants (p=0.0011); macrosomia (p=0.0186); and admission to the neonatal intensive care unit (p=0.0003), compared with the control group. However, the rates of Apgar score <7 at 5 minutes, respiratory distress syndrome, neonatal hypoglycemia, hyperbilirubinemia and the need for phototherapy were similar in both groups of patients. Congenital anomalies and perinatal mortality rates were not significantly different in the two groups.
Conclusion:
GDM is recognized to be associated with increased rates of adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes, which are supported by the findings of this study. Even the mild form of GDM seems to have significant consequences for women and their offspring and is recommended to be aggressively treated. Evidence suggests that early diagnosis and strict control of blood sugar levels throughout the pregnancy can significantly reduce maternal and fetal complications. A multicenter, randomized controlled trial, based on universally accepted criteria for GDM screening test, standardized diagnostic OGTT and management of all patients with GDM versus the standard obstetric management of the control is warranted.
The growing public health awareness of prematurity and its complications has prompted careful evaluation of the timing of deliveries by clinicians and hospitals. Preterm birth is associated with significant morbidity and mortality, and affects more than half a million births in the United States each year. In some situations, however, a late-preterm or early-term birth is the optimal outcome for the mother, child, or both owing to conditions that can result in worse outcomes if pregnancy is allowed to continue. These conditions may be categorized as placental, maternal, or fetal, including conditions such as placenta previa, preeclampsia, and multiple gestations. Some risks associated with early delivery are common to all conditions, including prematurity-related morbidities (eg, respiratory distress syndrome and intraventricular hemorrhage) as well as maternal intrapartum morbidities such as failed induction and cesarean delivery. However, when continuation of the pregnancy is associated with more risks such as hemorrhage, uterine rupture, and stillbirth, preterm delivery maybe indicated. In February 2011, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine held a workshop titled "Timing of Indicated Late Preterm and Early Term Births." The goal of the workshop was to synthesize the available information regarding conditions that may result in medically indicated late-preterm and early-term births to determine the potential risks and benefits of delivery compared with continued pregnancy, determine the optimal gestational age for delivery of affected pregnancies when possible, and inform future research regarding these issues. Based on available data and expert opinion, optimal timing for delivery for specific conditions was determined by consensus.
The purpose of the study was to examine ethnic variation in the impact of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) on birth outcome. The authors examined the association between GDM and pregnancy-induced hypertension, macrosomia, primary Cesarean delivery, and preterm birth, using New York City Birth Certificate data from 2001-2006. Logistic regression was used to evaluate the crude and adjusted odds ratios of GDM with each adverse perinatal event, stratified by ethnicity. GDM was associated with increased risk of adverse perinatal events among all ethnic groups, with modest variation by ethnicity. Across ethnic groups, adjusted odds ratios comparing women with and without GDM ranged from 1.4-2.9 for pregnancy-induced hypertension, 1.0-2.2 for macrosomia, 1.1-1.8 for primary Cesarean delivery, and 1.3-1.8 for preterm birth. Overall, Caribbean, Sub-Saharan African, and African American women tended to show a larger relative impact of GDM, while North African, South Central Asian, and Chinese women showed a comparatively smaller impact of GDM. Although some ethnic variation was seen, differences in effect size were not large enough to support ethnic-specific thresholds for GDM diagnosis and treatment.
We examined trends and characteristics of deliveries in women with gestational diabetes in Spain from 2001 to 2008. There were 101,643 deliveries with gestational diabetes among 2,782,369 delivery discharges (3.6%) with no increase over time. Rate of caesarean section increased (19-24.2%) and length of stay decreased.
To determine maternal and neonatal outcomes for women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in Sweden during 1991-2003, and to compare the outcomes in the two time periods.
This is a population-based cohort study using the Swedish Medical Birth Register data for the period 1991-2003. There were 1,260,297 women with singleton pregnancies registered during this time, of whom 10 525 were diagnosed with GDM, based on a 75 g oral glucose tolerance test. The main diagnostic criteria were fasting capillary whole blood glucose>or=6.1 mmol/l and 2 h blood glucose>or=9.0 mmol/l.
Maternal characteristics differed significantly between the GDM and non-GDM group. Adjusted odds ratios (OR) were as follows: for pre-eclampsia, 1.81 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.64-2.00); for shoulder dystocia, 2.74 (2.04-3.68); and for Caesarean section, 1.46 (1.38-1.54). No difference was seen in perinatal mortality, stillbirth rates, Apgar scores, fetal distress or transient tachypnoea. There was a markedly higher risk of large for gestational age, OR 3.43 (3.21-3.67), and Erb's palsy, OR 2.56 (1.96-3.32), in the GDM group, and statistically significant differences in prematurity<37 weeks, birth weight>4.5 kg, and major malformation, OR 1.19-1.71. No statistically significant improvement in outcomes was seen between the two study periods.
Women with GDM have higher risks of pre-eclampsia, shoulder dystocia and Caesarean section. Their infants are often large for gestational age and have higher risks of prematurity, Erb's palsy and major malformations. These outcomes did not improve over time.
To evaluate the amount of variation in diabetes practice patterns at the primary care provider (PCP), provider group, and facility level, and to examine the reliability of diabetes care profiles constructed using electronic databases.
Clinical and administrative data obtained from the electronic information systems at all facilities in a Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) integrated service network for a study period of October 1997 through September 1998.
This is a cohort study. The key variables of interest are different types of diabetes quality indicators, including measures of technical process, intermediate outcomes, and resource use.
A coordinated registry of patients with diabetes was constructed by integrating laboratory, pharmacy, utilization, and primary care provider data extracted from the local clinical information system used at all VA medical centers. The study sample consisted of 12,110 patients with diabetes, 258 PCPs, 42 provider groups, and 13 facilities.
There were large differences in the amount of practice variation across levels of care and for different types of diabetes care indicators. The greatest amount of variance tended to be attributable to the facility level. For process measures, such as whether a hemoglobin A1c was measured, the facility and PCP effects were generally comparable. However, for three resource use measures the facility effect was at least six times the size of the PCP effect, and for inter-mediate outcome indicators, such as hyperlipidemia, facility effects ranged from two to sixty times the size of the PCP level effect. A somewhat larger PCP effect was found (5 percent of the variation) when we examined a "linked" process-outcome measure linking hyperlipidemia and treatment with statins). When the PCP effect is small (i.e., 2 percent), a panel of two hundred diabetes patients is needed to construct profiles with 80 percent reliability.
little of the variation in many currently measured diabetes care practices is attributable to PCPs and, unless panel sizes are large, PCP profiling will be inaccurate. If profiling is to improve quality, it may be best to focus on examining facility-level performance variations and on developing indicators that promote specific, high-priority clinical actions.
When gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is diagnosed in a population with a high prevalence of unrecognised type 2 diabetes mellitus (type 2 DM), the rate of neonatal morbidity is not clear. There is also a paucity of data reporting neonatal outcome in women with recognised type 2 DM.
To describe, in a population with a high background prevalence of type 2 DM, neonatal morbidity in infants of women with GDM and type 2 DM admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
A 2-year audit was carried out in a tertiary level obstetric hospital with a multi-ethnic delivery population. All infants admitted to the NICU whose mothers had GDM or type 2 DM were identified from the hospital database. The records of 136 infants were retrospectively reviewed and data collected on outcome measures including maternal diagnosis, macrosomia, mode of delivery, delivery complications, hypoglycaemia, respiratory distress and congenital anomalies.
Admission to NICU occurred in 29% of GDM and 40% of type 2 DM pregnancies. Median gestation was 37 weeks (range: 25-41), with 46% delivered preterm. Forty percent of infants were delivered by emergency Caesarean section. Fifty-one percent of admissions had hypoglycaemia and 40% required support for respiratory distress. Women with type 2 DM diagnosed either prepregnancy or post-partum were the highest risk group for neonatal morbidity, including congenital anomalies.
Neonatal morbidity is common in infants of women with type 2 DM and GDM in a population with high prevalence of type 2 DM.
Women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and their offspring are at increased risk of developing diabetes. Although increases in diabetes prevalence have been reported in the United States, it is unknown whether this trend is also occurring for GDM. We examined trends in the yearly cumulative incidence of GDM between the years 1991 and 2000.
A cohort study of 267,051 pregnancies screened for GDM that occurred among members of the Northern California Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program, representing 86.8% of all eligible pregnancies, was undertaken.
GDM was identified in 14,175 pregnancies according to the diagnostic plasma glucose thresholds of the American Diabetes Association (96.5%) or the World Health Organization (3.5%). An additional 2,743 pregnant women with GDM were identified by a hospital discharge diagnosis. The women screened in 2000 were slightly older (mean [standard deviation] age 28.8 [6.0] years) than were those screened in 1991 (28.2 [5.7] years) and more likely to be from minority ethnic groups (51.4% versus 37.3% identified as African American, Asian, Hispanic, and other). The age- and ethnicity-adjusted yearly cumulative incidence of GDM increased steadily from 5.1% in 1991 to 7.4% in 1997 and leveled off through 2000 (6.9%).
The observed increase in yearly cumulative incidence of GDM was independent of changes in age and ethnicity of the study population. A true increase in GDM incidence might reflect or contribute to the increases in the prevalence of diabetes and obesity. Coordinated efforts are needed to alter this trend and to prevent chronic diabetes in GDM patients and their offspring.
II-2
The objective of the study was to estimate the validity of obstetric procedures and diagnoses in California patient discharge data.
We randomly sampled 1611 deliveries from 52 of 267 California hospitals that performed more than 678 eligible deliveries in 1992 to 1993. We compared hospital-reported procedures and diagnoses against our recoding of the same records.
Cesarean, forceps, and vacuum delivery were accurately reported, with sensitivities and positive predictive values exceeding 90%. Episiotomy was underreported (70% sensitivity). Cesarean indications were reported with at least 60% sensitivity, except uterine inertia, herpes, and long labor. Among comorbidities, sensitivity exceeded 60% for chorioamnionitis, diabetes, premature labor, preeclampsia, and intrauterine death. Sensitivity was poor (less than 60%) for anemia, asthma, thyroid disorders, mental disorders, drug abuse, genitourinary infections, obesity, fibroids, excessive fetal growth, hypertension, premature rupture, polyhydramnios, and postdates.
The validity of hospital-reported obstetric procedures and diagnoses varies, with moderate to high accuracy for some codes but poor accuracy for others.
Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is associated with an increase in both maternal and neonatal morbidity. There remains uncertainty, however, about the diagnostic criteria for GDM. We compared pregnancy outcomes across three groups of women, with the aim of establishing a threshold for diagnosis of GDM at our institution.
Women with a glucose tolerance test (GTT) were identified on the hospital's pathology database. Those women with a singleton pregnancy, in whom a GTT had demonstrated a fasting value </=5.5mmol/L, 2-h blood sugar >/=7.8mmol/L and who confined </=34 weeks gestation were eligible for inclusion. Outcomes were collected from the medical records and obstetric database. These women were managed with either diet modification, regular endocrinologist review and standard antenatal care if the GTT met ADA criteria (n=265, TREATED), or standard antenatal care alone if the GTT did not fulfil ADA criteria (n=213, UNTREATED). A third group comprised of women with normal GTT who received identical treatment to the untreated group (n=197, COMPARISON). Statistical analysis was conducted with chi(2) and ANOVA.
In women with untreated GDM, there was significantly more macrosomia, shoulder dystocia, and preeclampsia, compared with the comparison group. These rates were similar between the treated and comparison groups. There were no significant differences in induction of labour, caesarean section rates, or gestational age at delivery between the groups.
Untreated GDM is associated with larger babies and more birth trauma. We recommend the diagnosis of GDM be made with fasting glucose >/=5.5mmol/L and/or 2h >/=7.8mmol/L on 75g GTT.
Gestational diabetes (GDM) is defined as carbohydrate intolerance that begins or is first recognized during pregnancy. Although it is a well-known cause of pregnancy complications, its epidemiology has not been studied systematically. Our aim was to review the recent data on the epidemiology of GDM, and to describe the close relationship of GDM to prediabetic states, in addition to the risk of future deterioration in insulin resistance and development of overt Type 2 diabetes. We found that differences in screening programmes and diagnostic criteria make it difficult to compare frequencies of GDM among various populations. Nevertheless, ethnicity has been proven to be an independent risk factor for GDM, which varies in prevalence in direct proportion to the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes in a given population or ethnic group. There are several identifiable predisposing factors for GDM, and in the absence of risk factors, the incidence of GDM is low. Therefore, some authors suggest that selective screening may be cost-effective. Importantly, women with an early diagnosis of GDM, in the first half of pregnancy, represent a high-risk subgroup, with an increased incidence of obstetric complications, recurrent GDM in subsequent pregnancies, and future development of Type 2 diabetes. Other factors that place women with GDM at increased risk of Type 2 diabetes are obesity and need for insulin for glycaemic control. Furthermore, hypertensive disorders in pregnancy and afterwards may be more prevalent in women with GDM. We conclude that the epidemiological data suggest an association between several high-risk prediabetic states, GDM, and Type 2 diabetes. Insulin resistance is suggested as a pathogenic linkage. It is possible that improving insulin sensitivity with diet, exercise and drugs such as metformin may reduce the risk of diabetes in individuals at high risk, such as women with polycystic ovary syndrome, impaired glucose tolerance, and a history of GDM. Large controlled studies are needed to clarify this issue and to develop appropriate diabetic prevention strategies that address the potentially modifiable risk factors.
Diabet. Med. 20, ***–*** (2003)
The objective of the study was to characterize trends in gestational diabetes (GDM) by maternal age, race, and geographic region in the United States.
The National Hospital Discharge Survey, comprised of births in the United States between 1989 and 2004 (weighted n = 58,922,266), was used to examine trends in GDM, based on an International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification code of 648.8. We examined temporal trends by comparing GDM rates in the earliest (1989-1990) vs most recent (2003-2004) biennial periods. Relative risks, quantifying racial disparity (black vs white) in GDM, were derived through logistic regression models after adjusting for confounders. These analyses were further stratified by maternal age and geographic region.
Prevalence rates of GDM increased from 1.9% in 1989-1990 to 4.2% in 2003-2004, a relative increase of 122% (95% confidence interval [CI] 120%, 124%). Among whites, GDM increased from 2.2% in 1989-1990 to 4.2% in 2003-2004 (relative increase of 94% [95% CI 91%, 96%]), and this was largely driven by an increase in the 25-34 year age group. In contrast, the largest relative increase in GDM (260% [95% CI 243%, 279%]) among blacks between 1989-1990 (0.6%) and 2003-2004 (2.1%) occurred to women aged younger than 25 years. The black-white disparity in GDM rates widened markedly among women aged younger than 35 years in the 1997-2004 periods. The largest relative increases were seen in the West (182% [95% CI 177%, 187%]) followed by the South and Northeast. The observed increase in GDM rates in the Northeast, Midwest, and South regions most likely is due to increase in GDM prevalence rates among blacks.
This study shows that the prevalence rate of GDM in the United States has increased dramatically between 1989 and 2004. The temporal increase and the widening black-white disparity in the rate of GDM deserves further investigation.
Gestational diabetes and pregnancy-related hypertension can lead to adverse health effects in mothers and infants. We assessed recent trends in the rates of these conditions in Los Angeles County, California.
Hospital discharge data were used to identify all women aged 15-54 years who resided in the county, had a singleton delivery from 1991 through 2003, and had gestational diabetes or pregnancy-related hypertension listed as a discharge diagnosis at the time of delivery. The prevalence of each condition was calculated by calendar year, race/ethnicity, and age group. Temporal trends in the rates were assessed by using negative binomial regression models, controlling for race/ethnicity and age. Separate models were run for each racial/ethnic and age group.
The age-adjusted prevalence of gestational diabetes increased more than threefold (from 14.5 cases per 1000 women in 1991 to 47.9 cases per 1000 in 2003). The age-adjusted prevalence of pregnancy-related hypertension also increased (from 40.5 cases per 1000 in 1991 to 54.4 cases per 1000 in 2003). In the multivariable regression analysis, the annual rate increase for gestational diabetes was 8.3% overall and was highest among Hispanics (9.9%). The annual rate increase for pregnancy-related hypertension was 2.8% overall and was highest among blacks (4.8%).
The rates of gestational diabetes and pregnancy-related hypertension are increasing in Los Angeles County. Further research is needed to determine the causes of the observed increases and the growing racial/ethnic disparities in those rates.
Reducing mortality and avoiding preventable ICU utilization: analysis of a successful rapid response program using APR-DRGs
- T Hatlem
- C Jones
- Ek Woodard