Gestational diabetes mellitus increases among Danish women
A new article published in Scandinavian Journal of Public Health (October 2017) by Danish Diabetes Academy Post Doc Charlotte Jeppesen shows that the prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) among Danish women has increased.
THE PREVALENCE OF GDM IS HIGHER AMONG IMMIGRANTS THAN AMONG NATIVE DANES
The prevalence of GDM increases worldwide and Denmark is no exception. A national study based on health registries showed that GDM has increased among Danish women from 1.7% in 2004 to 2.9% (age-standardized). When analyses were stratified on Danes, as well as immigrants and their descendants, the prevalence of GDM was higher among immigrants, increasing from 4.06% to 4.51%, whereas the prevalence increased from 2.09% to 2.72% among native Danes.
The study was based on numbers from The National Patient Registry and The National Birth Registry and by cross-linkage, the GDM diagnosis of the woman age 15–49 years was linked with the time of a live birth of a child. The GDM diagnosis included both early and late screening diagnoses. From the Statistics Bank hosted by Statistics Denmark the total number of births was drawn to calculate prevalence estimates.
THE PREVALENCE OF GDM IS INCREASING BOTH ACROSS AGE AND ETHNICITY
The prevalence of GDM is also increasing across age groups, when analyses were stratified. Among Danish women age 15–24; 25–34; and 35–49 the prevalence increased in the years 2004–2012 from 1.1% to 18%; 1.5% to 2.6%; and 2.9% to 4.7%, respectively. The prevalence of GDM in Denmark is low on a global scale, nevertheless, the prevalence of GDM is increasing also across age and ethnicity and should call for attention from the preventive health services.
AUTHORS AND AFFILIATION
Charlotte Jeppesen1,2, Helle T. Maindal1,3, Jette K. Kristensen5, Per G. Ovesen4, Daniel R. Witte1,2
1Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, Denmark
2Danish Diabetes Academy, Denmark
3Steno Diabetes Centre Copenhagen, Health Promotion Research, Denmark
4Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark
5Research Unit of General Practice and Department of Clinical Medicine, Aalborg University, Denmark