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
Review
. 2016 Jan;16(1):7.
doi: 10.1007/s11892-015-0699-x.

Prevalence of Gestational Diabetes and Risk of Progression to Type 2 Diabetes: a Global Perspective

Yeyi Zhu  1 , Cuilin Zhang  2
Affiliations
Review

Prevalence of Gestational Diabetes and Risk of Progression to Type 2 Diabetes: a Global Perspective

Yeyi Zhu et al. Curr Diab Rep. 2016 Jan.

Abstract

Despite the increasing epidemic of diabetes mellitus affecting populations at different life stages, the global burden of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is not well assessed. Systematically synthesized data on global prevalence estimates of GDM are lacking, particularly among developing countries. The hyperglycemic intrauterine environment as exemplified in pregnancies complicated by GDM might not only reflect but also fuel the epidemic of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). We comprehensively reviewed available data in the past decade in an attempt to estimate the contemporary global prevalence of GDM by country and region. We reviewed the risk of progression from GDM to T2DM as well. Synthesized data demonstrate wide variations in both prevalence estimates of GDM and the risk of progression from GDM to T2DM. Direct comparisons of GDM burden across countries or regions are challenging given the great heterogeneity in screening approaches, diagnostic criteria, and underlying population characteristics. In this regard, collaborative efforts to estimate global GDM prevalence would be a large but important leap forward. Such efforts may have substantial public health implications in terms of informing health policy makers and healthcare providers for disease burden and for developing more targeted and effective diabetes prevention and management strategies globally.

Keywords: Diagnosis; Gestational diabetes; Pregnancy; Prevalence; Screening; Type 2 diabetes.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Yeyi Zhu and Cuilin Zhang declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Median (interquartile range) prevalence (%) of GDM by WHO region, 2005–2015. (Map generated from WHO website at http://www.who.int/about/regions/en/ [9])
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Country-specific prevalence of GDM according to different diagnostic criteria. C&C Carpenter and Coustan criteria, IADPSG International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups, NDDG National Diabetes Data Group, WHO World Health Organization, other included International Classification of Diseases codes and local guidelines or criteria
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Relative risk (95 % confidence interval), length of follow-up, and cumulative incidence of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) after the index pregnancy complicated by gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) by country and region
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Chen L, Magliano DJ, Zimmet PZ. The worldwide epidemiology of type 2 diabetes mellitus—present and future perspectives. Nat Rev Endocrinol. 2012;8(4):228–36. doi:10.1038/nrendo.2011.183. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ferrara A Increasing prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus: a public health perspective. Diabetes Care. 2007;30 Suppl 2:S141–6. doi:10.2337/dc07-s206. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Anna V, van der Ploeg HP, Cheung NW, Huxley RR, Bauman AE. Sociodemographic correlates of the increasing trend in prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus in a large population of women between 1995 and 2005. Diabetes Care. 2008;31(12):2288–93. doi:10.2337/dc08-1038. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

    1. Guariguata L, Linnenkamp U, Beagley J, Whiting DR, Cho NH. Global estimates of the prevalence of hyperglycaemia in pregnancy. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2014;103(2):176–85. doi:10.1016/j.diabres.2013.11.003.

      This article estimates the global prevalence of hyperglycemia in pregnancy, including total diabetes in pregnancy (known and previously undiagnosed diabetes) and gestational diabetes, conforming to the new WHO 2013 criteria.

    1. Metzger BE, Lowe LP, Dyer AR, Trimble ER, Chaovarindr U, Coustan DR, et al. Hyperglycemia and adverse pregnancy outcomes. N Engl J Med. 2008;358(19):1991–2002. - PubMed