Prevalence and Postpartum Screening Practice for Type 2 Diabetes following GDM in King Abdulaziz Medical City: A 3-Years Retrospective Cohort Study

Abstract

Aim: GDM patients were associated to develop T2DM but mostly failed to undergo screening after delivery. This study aims to examine the practice of T2DM screening and prevalence of developing T2DM among women who had GDM in King Abdulaziz Medical City (KAMC), Saudi Arabia. Methods: Retrospective study involving 642 pregnant women with GDM. Medical records on screenings conducted, delivery mode, GDM and diabetes family history were collected and investigated. Statistical analysis was conducted. Frequencies and percentages were used for categorical variables while means and SD for continuous. Chi-square and t-test were used to establish relationship of categorical and comparing two group means, respectively. Results: Patients were 98.8% Saudi nationals, mean weight, height, parity and number of pregnancies were 76.96 kg, 2.74 m, 3.37 and 1.35, respectively. Majority were obese (56.9%), SVD (56.4%) mode of delivery and good lifestyle (91.4%) as management practice. OGTT was used for screening T2DM with 0 hr fasting and 2-hrs after consuming 75g of glucose, physician ordered 6 weeks after delivery. Only 20% had screening for T2DM and 3.9% developed postpartum diabetes with high number of women not returning for ordered OGTT screening (65.6%). Significant predictors identified were parity and mode of delivery for development of T2DM, while only mode of delivery for both screening for T2DM and management of GDM.Conclusion: Low prevalence of developing T2DM but high number of women failed to follow the ordered OGTT screening. Effort on the implementation of OGTT screening for T2DM needs improvement.