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Ethnic Differences in Characteristics of Women Diagnosed With Early Gestational Diabetes: Findings From the TOBOGM Study

  • , Lili Yuen
  • , Vincent Wong
  • , Jincy Immanuel
  • , William M. Hague
  • , N. Wah Cheung
  • , Helena Teede
  • , Emily Hibbert
  • , Christopher J. Nolan
  • , Michael Peek
  • , Jeff R. Flack
  • , Mark McLean
  • , Arianne Sweeting
  • , Alexandra Kautzky-Willer
  • , Jürgen Harreiter
  • , Emily Gianatti
  • , Viswanathan Mohan
  • , Helena Backman
  • , David Simmons*
  • *Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

12 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Objective: To compare the prevalence and clinical characteristics of early gestational diabetes (eGDM) and associated birth outcomes among women of different ethnic groups. 

Methods: This is a secondary analysis of an international, multicenter randomized controlled trial of treating eGDM among pregnant women with GDM risk factors enrolled at < 20 weeks’ gestation. GDM diagnosis was made using WHO-2013 criteria. Ethnicity was classified by self-identification. While Europids required at least one risk factor for recruitment, for others, ethnicity itself was a risk factor. 

Results: Among women of Europid (n = 1567), South Asian (SA: n = 971), East and South-East Asian (ESEA: n = 498), Middle Eastern (ME: n = 242), and Māori and Pasifika (MP: n = 174) ethnicities; MP (26.4%) had the highest eGDM crude prevalence compared with Europid (20.3%), SA (24.7%), ESEA (22.3%), and ME (21.1%) (P < .001). Compared with Europid, the highest eGDM adjusted odds ratio (aOR) was seen in SA (2.43 [95% CI 1.9-3.11]) and ESEA (aOR 2.28 [95% CI 1.68-3.08]); in late GDM, SA had the highest prevalence (20.4%: aOR 2.16 [95% CI 1.61-2.9]). Glucose patterns varied between ethnic groups and ESEA were predominantly diagnosed with eGDM through post-glucose load values, while all other ethnic groups were mainly diagnosed on fasting glucose values. There were no differences in the eGDM composite primary outcome or neonatal and pregnancy-related hypertension outcomes between the ethnic groups. 

Conclusion: In women with risk factors, eGDM was most prevalent in SA and ESEA women, particularly identified by the post-glucose load samples. These findings suggest an early oral glucose tolerance test should particularly be performed in women from these ethnic groups.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)e2471-e2484
Number of pages14
JournalJournal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism
Volume110
Issue number8
Early online date6 Dec 2024
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2025

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