Screening for diabetes and glucose intolerance disorders after gestational diabetes in primary care: A retrospective cohort analysis from the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD)

Gestational diabetes is diabetes that develops during pregnancy and goes away after giving birth. It is one of the most common disorders of pregnancy. Affected women are more likely to go on to get type 2 diabetes than women who have not have gestational diabetes.

Guidelines in the UK advise women to be tested for diabetes at six to 13 weeks after a gestational diabetes pregnancy, and once a year from then on. This helps doctors to diagnose and manage diabetes early so that mothers can stay healthier. However, many women do not attend these screening tests, and most do not go every year. Often they do not know that the tests are recommended, and are not invited or reminded to attend.

In this study, we aim to understand patterns in diabetes screening after gestational diabetes (especially more than three years after pregnancy). We will use clinical records, and we will not identify individual patients. We will describe how many women are screened, how long after pregnancy, which tests were used, and how many women are diagnosed with diabetes. We will also look at whether factors like the number of children someone has, which part of the UK they live in, and which general practice they attend affects likelihood of going to screening.

This study will help us to understand current practices in medical care after gestational diabetes in the UK. This will help to inform changes to policy to improve treatment. We may find groups of women who do not go to screening or have a high risk of diabetes, and therefore need more support to attend testing.

Co-applicants

Simon Griffin, Juliet Usher-Smith (Cambridge)

Amount awarded: £13 552.00