The association between immigration status and the development of type 2 diabetes in women with a prior diagnosis of gestational diabetes: A population‐based study

Abstract

Aims:The aim of this study was to examine the influence of immigration status and region of origin on the risk of type 2 diabetes in women with prior gestational diabetes (GDM). Methods:This retrospective population-based cohort study included women with gestational diabetes (GDM) aged 16 to 50 years in Ontario, Canada, who gave birth between 2006 and 2014. We compared the incidence of type 2 diabetes after delivery between long-term residents and immigrants-overall, by time since immigration and by region of-using Cox regression adjusted for age, year, neighbourhood income, rurality, infant birth weight and presence of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP).Results: Among 38,515 women with prior GDM (42% immigrants), immigrants had a significantly higher risk of type 2 diabetes compared with long-term residents (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 1.19, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.13-1.26), with no meaningful difference based on time since immigration. The highest adjusted relative risks of type 2 diabetes compared with long-term residents were found for immigrants from Sub-Saharan Africa (HR 1.63, 95% CI 1.40-1.90),