Disparities in the risk of gestational diabetes by race-ethnicity and country of birth

P>Hedderson MM, Darbinian JA, Ferrara A. Disparities in the risk of gestational diabetes by race-ethnicity and country of birth. Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology 2010. Little information exists on the association between maternal country of birth and risk of gestational diabetes (GDM). We examined within each race-ethnicity group whether the risk of GDM differs between women born inside and outside the US. The study was a cohort study of 216 089 women who delivered an infant between 1995 and 2004 with plasma glucose data from the screening 50-g glucose challenge test and the diagnostic 100-g, 3-h oral glucose tolerance test. The age-adjusted prevalence of GDM varied by race-ethnicity and was lowest for non-Hispanic white (4.1%) and highest among Asian Indians (11.1%). In multivariable models, being born outside of the US was associated with an increased risk of GDM among black, Asian Indian, Filipina, Pacific Islanders, Chinese, Mexicans and non-Hispanic white women, whereas, Japanese and Korean foreign-born women had a decreased risk of GDM. Clinicians should be aware that among certain race-ethnicity groups women born outside the US may be at increased risk of GDM and may warrant special preventive and culturally sensitive care.