Table 1.
Clinical characteristics according to the treatment groups of 820 women with gestational diabetes mellitus
| Treatment groups | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristics | Overall | Diet | Insulin | P-value* |
| N (%) | 820 | 460 (56.1) | 360 (43.9) | |
| Age (years) | 32.0 ± 5.1 | 31.6 ± 4.9 | 32.6 ± 5.2 | 0.010 |
| Ethnicity, n (%) | NS | |||
| Caucasian | 658 (80.2) | 377 (82.0) | 281 (78.1) | |
| Asian | 55 (6.7) | 35 (7.6) | 20 (5.6) | |
| African-American | 35 (4.3) | 18 (3.9) | 17 (4.7) | |
| Mediterranean | 57 (7.0) | 22 (4.8) | 35 (9.7) | |
| Unknown | 15 (1.8) | 8 (1.7) | 7 (1.9) | |
| Family history of DM, n (%) | 326 (39.8) | 156 (33.9) | 170 (47.2) | <0.001 |
| History of PCOS, n (%) | 40 (4.9) | 24 (5.2) | 16 (4.4) | NS |
| Previous GDM, n (%) | 86 (10.5) | 25 (5.4) | 61 (16.9) | <0.001 |
| Previous infant weighing ≥4500 g at birth, n (%) | 90 (11.0) | 35 (7.6) | 55 (15.3) | <0.001 |
| History of IUFD, n (%) | 16 (2.0) | 5 (1.1) | 11 (3.1) | 0.043 |
| History of spontaneous abortion, n (%) | 223 (27.2) | 113 (24.6) | 110 (30.6) | NS |
| Chronic hypertension, n (%) | 37 (4.5) | 15 (3.3) | 22 (6.1) | NS |
| Smoking during pregnancy, n (%) | 81 (9.9) | 42 (9.1) | 39 (10.8) | NS |
| Multigravida, n (%) | 564 (68.8) | 285 (62.0) | 279 (77.5) | <0.001 |
| Parity, n (%) | <0.001 | |||
| 0 | 333 (40.6) | 223 (48.5) | 110 (30.6) | |
| 1–2 | 436 (53.2) | 216 (47.0) | 220 (61.1) | |
| > 2 | 51 (6.2) | 21 (4.6) | 30 (8.3) | |
| Pre-gestational BMI, n (%) b | <0.001 | |||
| < 25 kg/m2 | 260 (32.7) | 173 (38.7) | 87 (25.0) | |
| 25–29.9 kg/m2 | 231 (29.1) | 126 (28.2) | 105 (30.2) | |
| ≥ 30 kg/m2 | 304 (38.2) | 148 (33.1) | 156 (44.8) | |
| Pre-gestational BMI (kg/m2) | 27.7 [24.0–31.9] | 26.9 [23.3–31.4] | 29.2 [25.0–33.4] | <0.001 |
| Weight gain mother (kg) a | 8.0 [4.0–12.0] | 9.0 [5.0–13.0] | 7.0 [3.0–11.0] | <0.001 |
| Indication for OGTT, n (%) c | 0.010 | |||
| Risk factors | 523 (66.2) | 275 (62.4) | 248 (71.1) | |
| Signs | 267 (33.8) | 166 (37.6) | 101 (28.9) | |
| Fasting glucose level (mmol/l) | 5.0 [4.6–5.5] | 4.8 [4.5–5.2] | 5.3 [4.9–5.9] | <0.001 |
| 2-h glucose level after a 75-g OGTT (mmol/l) | 8.6 [8.1–9.4] | 8.5 [8.0–9.1] | 8.8 [8.2–9.7] | <0.001 |
| Abnormal value only on fasting glucose level, n % | 8 (1.0) | 3 (0.7) | 5 (1.5) | NS |
| Abnormal value only on 2-h glucose level, n % | 746 (91.0) | 440 (95.7) | 306 (85) | 0.003 |
| Gestational age at time of OGTT (wks) | 27.9 [25.9–30.7] | 28.4 [26.7–32.3] | 27.1 [24.4–29.3] | <0.001 |
| HbA1c d | ||||
| mmol/mol | 37 [34–40] | 37 [34–39] | 38 [36–42] | <0.001 |
| % | 5.5 [5.3–5.8] | 5.5 [5.3–5.7] | 5.6 [5.4–6.0] | |
Data are expressed as mean ± SD, median [IQR], or proportion n (%)
Abbreviations: BMI Body Mass Index, DM Diabetes Mellitus, GDM Gestational Diabetes Mellitus, IUFD Intrauterine Fetal Death, PCOS Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, OGTT Oral Glucose Tolerance Test, HbA1c Haemoglobin A1c, wks weeks, g gram, NS not significant
* P-values were based on Student’s unpaired t-test (non-skewed continuous variables), Mann-Whitney U-Test (skewed continuous variables) or chi-square test (categorical variables)
aWeight gain from pre-pregnancy weight to first visit
b N = 795 due to missing data on weight or height
c N = 790 due to missing data on indication of OGTT
d N = 643 due to missing data. The HbA1c values were measured at the time of GDM diagnosis within 1 week after the OGTT