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History of depression increases gestational diabetes risk
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The risk for gestational diabetes may be increased among women with a history of depression, according to recent study findings published in the Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic & Neonatal Nursing.
“Women with a history of depression may be more at risk for gestational diabetes during pregnancy and should talk with their health care provider about this risk,” Mary Byrn, PhD, RN, of the Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing at Loyola University, said in a press release. “Health care providers also should know and understand the prevalence and symptoms of prenatal depression to be able to screen women appropriately.”
Mary Byrn
Byrn and Sue Penckofer, PhD, RN, also of the Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing at Loyola University, evaluated 135 pregnant women between 24 and 40 weeks’ gestation (65 with gestational diabetes) from an outpatient clinic at an academic medical center to determine whether women with gestational diabetes have more symptoms of depression. An analysis was conducted to determine whether factors predictive of symptoms of depression in women with gestational diabetes differed from those without. Researchers used the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) to measure symptoms of depression in participants.
Symptoms of depression were found in 20% of participants with gestational diabetes and 13% of those without gestational diabetes, yet there was no significant difference between the groups. However, participants with gestational diabetes were more likely to have a history of depression (23%) than participants without gestational diabetes (9%) which was significantly different (P < .02). In fact, participants with gestational diabetes were almost four times more likely to have a history of depression compared with those without gestational diabetes after controlling for age, income, marital status, BMI and gravida (P < .04).
Sue Penckofer
Predictive factors for symptoms of antenatal depression for both groups were trait anxiety (P < .001) and perceived stress (P < .001).
“Depression may also contribute to the poor self-management of gestational diabetes and potentially increase the change for complications during pregnancy,” Penckofer said in the release. “We must further explore the relationship between diabetes and depression to help understand and improve prenatal care and outcomes for women and infants.” – by Amber Cox
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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