Health Screenings Beyond A History Of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: A Secondary Analysis Of The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System

Abstract

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) affects over 200,000 women in the United States each year placing them at a sevenfold risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus within a decade of delivery as compared to women without GDM. Diabetes has been projected to become more epidemic among women yet, a paucity of research has examined glucose screening trends beyond the postpartum period and longitudinal studies are few among those with a reproductive history of GDM. Suboptimal glucose screening and delayed diabetes detection can lead to an increased risk of cardiometabolic morbidity and mortality. Therefore, this study was designed to examine the health screening follow-up gap beyond the post-delivery period among this vulnerable group of women.This secondary analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System 2008 described associations among demographic characteristics, gynecological care, and post-pregnancy glucose screening tests among a large representative sample of women who self-reported a history of gestational diabetes.Analyses revealed hGDM women in this sample who engage in annual gynecological care, which included an annual cervical cancer screening test was associated with completion of glucose screening tests and participants were almost twice as likely to have completed glucose screening tests in compliance with current evidence based guidelines as compared to those who had not completed annual Pap tests. However, there were no significant differences in the report of glucose screening regardless of any of the specified demographic characteristics including race, ethnicity, education level, age, BMI, or health insurance.