Interrupting the Pathway from Gestational Diabetes Mellitus to Type 2 Diabetes: The Role of Primary Care

Objective: Our objective was to describe patient-, provider-, and health systems-level factors associated with likelihood of obtaining guideline-recommended follow-up to prevent or mitigate early-onset type 2 diabetes after a birth complicated by gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).

Methods: This study presents a retrospective cohort analysis of de-identified demographic and health care system characteristics, and clinical claims data for 12,622 women with GDM who were continuously enrolled in a large, national U.S. health plan from January 31, 2006, to September 30, 2012. Data were obtained from the OptumLabs Data Warehouse. We extracted 1) known predictors of follow-up (age, race, education, comorbidities, GDM severity); 2) novel factors that had potential as predictors (prepregnancy use of preventive measures and primary care, delivery hospital size); and 3) outcome variables (glucose testing within 1 and 3 years and primary care visit within 3 years after delivery).

Results: Asian ethnicity, higher education, GDM severity, and delivery in a larger hospital predicted greater likelihood of post-GDM follow-up. Women with a prepregnancy primary care visit of any type were two to three times more likely to receive postpartum glucose testing and primary care at 1 year, and 3.5 times more likely to have obtained testing and primary care at 3 years after delivery.

Conclusions: A history of use of primary care services before a pregnancy complicated by GDM seems to enhance the likelihood of postdelivery surveillance and preventive care, and thus reduce the risk of undetected early-onset type 2 diabetes. An emphasis on promoting early primary care connections for women in their early reproductive years, in addition to its overall value, is a promising strategy for ensuring follow-up testing and care for women after complicated pregnancies that forewarn risk for later chronic illness. Health systems should focus on models of care that connect primary and reproductive/maternity care before, during, and long after pregnancies occur.