Cardiometabolic and mental health in women with early gestational diabetes mellitus: A prospective cohort study.

CONTEXT Early diagnosis and treatment of gestational diabetes (GDM) may reduce adverse obstetric and neonatal outcomes, especially in high-risk women. However, there is a lack of data for other outcomes. OBJECTIVE We compared cardiometabolic and mental health outcomes in women with early (eGDM) and classical (cGDM) GDM. METHODS This prospective cohort included 1185 women with cGDM and 76 women with eGDM. eGDM had GDM-risk factors (BMI >30kg/m 2, family history of diabetes, history of GDM, ethnicity), were tested at <20 weeks gestational age and diagnosed using ADA prediabetes criteria. Women underwent lifestyle adaptations. Obstetric, neonatal, mental, cardiometabolic outcomes were assessed during pregnancy and postpartum. RESULTS eGDM had lower gestational weight gain than cGDM (10.7±6.2 vs 12.6±6.4, p=0.03), but needed more medical treatment (66% vs 42%, p<0.001). They had similar rates of adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes, except for increased large-for-gestational-age infants (25% vs 15%, p=0.02). Mental health during pregnancy and postpartum did not differ between groups. eGDM had more atherogenic postpartum lipid profile than cGDM (p≤0.001). In eGDM, the postpartum prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) was 1.8-times, prediabetes was 3.1-times and diabetes was 7.4-times higher than cGDM (MetS-waist circumference-based: 62% vs 34%/MetS-BMI-based: 46% vs 24%; prediabetes: 47.5% vs 15.3%; diabetes: 11.9% vs 1.6%, all p<0.001). These differences remained unchanged after adjusting for GDM-risk factors. CONCLUSION Compared to cGDM, eGDM was not associated with differences in mental health, but with increased adverse cardiometabolic outcomes, independent of GDM-risk factors and gestational weight gain. This hints to a pre-existing risk-profile in eGDM.