Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2012 Jul 24:12:71.
doi: 10.1186/1471-2393-12-71.

Health care costs associated with gestational diabetes mellitus among high-risk women--results from a randomised trial

Päivi Kolu  1 , Jani Raitanen, Pekka Rissanen, Riitta Luoto
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Health care costs associated with gestational diabetes mellitus among high-risk women--results from a randomised trial

Päivi Kolu et al. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. .

Abstract

Background: The costs of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) screening have been frequently reported, but total GDM-related health care costs compared to the health care costs of women without GDM have not been reported. The aim of this study was to analyse GDM-related health care costs among women with an elevated risk of GDM.

Methods: The study was based on a cluster-randomised GDM prevention trial (N = 848) carried out at maternity clinics, combined with data from the Finnish Medical Birth Register and Care Registers for Social Welfare and Health Care. Costs of outpatient visits to primary and secondary care, cost of inpatient hospital care before and after delivery, the use of insulin, delivery costs and babies' stay in the neonatal intensive care unit were analysed. Women who developed GDM were compared to those who were not diagnosed with GDM.

Results: Total mean health care costs adjusted for age, body mass index and education were 25.1% higher among women diagnosed with GDM (€6,432 vs. €5,143, p < 0.001) than among women without GDM. The cost of inpatient visits was 44% higher and neonatal intensive care unit use was 49% higher in the GDM group than among women without GDM. The delivery costs were the largest single component in both groups.

Conclusions: A confirmed GDM diagnosis was associated with a significant increase in total health care costs. Effective lifestyle counselling by primary health care providers may offer a means of reducing the high costs of secondary care.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. American Diabetes Association. Gestational diabetes mellitus. Diabetes Care. 2004;27(Suppl 1):S88–90. - PubMed
    1. Kieffer EC, Sinco B, Kim C. Health behaviors among women of reproductive age with and without a history of gestational diabetes mellitus. Diabetes Care. 2006;8:1788–1793. - PubMed
    1. Chu SY, Callaghan WM, Kim SY, Schmid CH, Lau J, England LJ, Dietz PM. Maternal obesity and risk of gestational diabetes mellitus. Diabetes Care. 2007;8:2070–2076. - PubMed
    1. Teh WT, Teede HJ, Paul E, Harrison CL, Wallace EM, Allan C. Risk factors for gestational diabetes mellitus: implications for the application of screening guidelines. Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol. 2011;1:26–30. doi: 10.1111/j.1479-828X.2011.01292.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bener A, Saleh NM, Al-Hamaq A. Prevalence of gestational diabetes and associated maternal and neonatal complications in a fast-developing community: global comparisons. Int J Womens Health. 2011;3:367–73. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms