Issue 135 Item 2 Women with Gestational Diabetes are Not Informed About Future R

54% of women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) report never having been told they were at increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes in later life. That, according to analysis of data from the Stockholm Pregnancy and Women’s Nutrition (SPAWN) study.

Researchers at Huddinge University Hospital in Stockholm report that 58 women were diagnosed with GDM in 1984-1985, based on a review of the Swedish medical register. Twenty-eight participated in the current study, which compared their status at 15 years’ follow-up with that of 52 control subjects who were pregnant during the same period.

Ten women with gestational diabetes had developed type 2 diabetes, while none of the control subjects had done so, Dr. Yvonne Linné and associates report in the International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology for November.

When asked, 54% of the women with GDM "claimed that they had no idea that they might run a higher risk than others to develop clinically manifest type 2 diabetes mellitus at any time after delivery." It was not possible to tell whether this finding represents selective memory, inadequate follow-up, or lack of appropriate clinical routines, Dr. Linné’s group notes.

"Preventive long term follow up programs for GDM women thus seem essential to develop," they conclude. Int J Obstet Gynaecol 2002;109:1227-1231.