Endocrine Abstracts

Objective: The objective of our study was to identify maternal and biological factors associated with the use of insulin therapy in patients with GDM.

Methods: Retrospective study including 100 pregnant women followed up for gestational diabetes during the year 2021. Information was collected from medical records and supplemented, if necessary, by telephone interviews with the patients.

Results: The mean age of the patients was 32.7±4years. Half of the population had a first-degree family history of type 2 diabetes and 52% were obese with a mean body mass index of 29±5.5 kg/m^². The mean gestational age at discovery of GDM was 19.4±7SA. The diagnosis was made on the basis of pathological fasting blood glucose in 67% of cases. Insulin therapy was indicated in 32% of cases. Compared to pregnant women with diabetes controlled by dietary measures alone, insulin-treated patients had higher gestational age and parity, earlier gestational age at discovery of GDM and more frequently had two pathological oral glucose values, but the difference was not significant. In multivariate analysis, the factors significantly associated with the use of insulin therapy were the existence of a first-degree family history of type 2 diabetes, pre-gestational obesity and an HbA1c≥5.5% at the discovery of GDM.

Conclusion: Knowledge of the factors associated with insulin therapy helps to optimise the management of gestational diabetes and thus improve the maternal-fetal prognosis.