P169 Service evaluation to determine the reason for increased gestational diabetes (GDM) referrals following SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

Published Date: 23rd March 2022

Publication Authors: Gallagher CG, Milne R, Davies H, McNulty S, Pankaja S, Bujawansa S

Aims
England and Wales report on average, 700,000 annual pregnancies. From these 5% are complicated with hyperglycaemia with 87.5% of these Gestational diabetes (GDM). Pregnant women living with obesity are at higher risk of developing GDM. There is a linear relationship between glucose and adverse pregnancy outcomes. We noted a marked increase in the number of referrals with GDM to our service in 2021. The aim of this study was to compare the incidence of GDM and the characteristics of women under our service in 2021 to the pre-pandemic data from 2019.

Methods
Data were collected retrospectively, analysing the data of women with GDM during the time period of 1st May to 31st July 2019 and compared to the same period from 2021.

Results
The number of positive OGTT results increased by 209% in 2021 (n = 107 vs 51). In 2021 there was a 66% increase in the number women with GDM with a Body Mass Index (BMI)≥30kgm2 (36 to 60). The average BMI of this group increased from 34.9kg/m2 in 2019 to 36.5 in 2021 although this failed to reach statistical significance.

Conclusion
The local incidence of GDM is higher in 2021 compared to 2019. This is driven by an increase in the number of women diagnosed with GDM with a BMI≥30. We hypothesize that this may be a result of sedentary lifestyle brought on by the lock downs because of the pandemic. Further work may be warranted in this area using a larger sample size derived nationally.

 

Gallagher, CG; Milne, RM; Davies, HD; McNulty, SN; Pankaja, SP; Bujawansa, SB. (2022). P169 Service evaluation to determine the reason for increased gestational diabetes (GDM) referrals following SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Diabetic Medicine. 39 (Suppl 1), 97

 

 

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