ResearchObstetricsGestational diabetes in the United States: temporal trends 1989 through 2004
Section snippets
Data source
We used the National Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS) data that contain maternal hospital discharge records of births in the United States during 1989 to 2004 (weighted n = 58,922,266). The survey is conducted annually by the National Center for Health Statistics of the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Data on hospital discharges are from short-stay (with an average length of stay of less than 30 days), noninstitutional general hospitals, exclusive of federal, military,
Results
During the study period, the average annual prevalence rate of GDM was 2.9%. The prevalence of GDM increased from 1.9% in 1989-1990 to 4.2% in 2003-2004, a relative increase of 122% (95% CI 120%, 124%). A markedly higher overall prevalence rate (5.8%) was noted among women 35 years old or older (Figure 1) and a relatively lower rate among women aged younger than 25 years (1.4%).
Race- and maternal age-specific GDM rates and temporal changes in rates between the earliest (1989-1990) and most
Comment
The prevalence rate of gestational diabetes more than doubled between 1989-1990 and 2003-2004 in the United States. Although risk for GDM increased with maternal age regardless of maternal race, our study suggests an apparent race disparity in the temporal increase in GDM in the United States.
Our study was not designed to explore the causes for the temporal changes in GDM. Unmeasured factors that may have contributed to the increased prevalence may be the recent surge in obesity among women or
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Cite this article as: Getahun D, Nath C, Ananth CV, et al. Gestational diabetes in the United States: temporal trends 1989 through 2004. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2008;198:525.e1-525.e5.
D. G., C.V.A., and J.C.S. are partly supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD (Grant HD038902 to C.V.A.).