Objective: Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) is an important condition in diabetes categories causing significant complications including pre-eclampsia and eclampsia among pregnant women. The aim of this study was to estimate the trend of annual GDM incidence and its risk factors in Yazd province, Iran, from 2008 to 2013.
Materials and Methods: The present study was conducted as a prospective cohort study in which all pregnant women who had attended primary health care centers were screened for GDM. Annual GDM incidence was calculated for all and also according to 5-year age groups and residential area (urban/rural). Secular trends for GDM incidence and its risk factors were also evaluated.
Results: In this study, 67320 pregnant women were screened for GDM and 5425 pregnant women were diagnosed as GDM with 6-year incidence of 8, 6%. Annual incidence of GDM increased from 3.1% in 2008 to 18.9% in 2013. Assessment of crude and age-adjusted incidence across the years of follow up revealed incremental secular trend (P -value<0.001). Changes in GDM risk factors including maternal age and family history of diabetes were also significantly positive. GDM incidence increased in both rural and urban areas but the observed trend slopes were opposite in these different contexts.
Conclusion: Clinicians should have specific regard to pregnant women with some risk factors for timely diagnosis and treatment. Meanwhile returning to previous life style of rural area can help to decrease GDM incidence.