Development of type 2 diabetes in women with comorbid gestational diabetes and common mental disorders in the Born in Bradford cohort

Objectives To compare, in a population of women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), the time to diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes in those with and without common mental disorder (CMD) (depression and/or anxiety) during pregnancy.

Design and setting prospective study of the Born in Bradford cohort in Bradford, UK.

Participants 909 women diagnosed with GDM between 2007 and 2010, with linkage to their primary care records until 2017. The exposed population were women with an indicator of CMD during pregnancy in primary care records. The unexposed were those without an indicator.

Outcome measures Time to diagnosis of type 2 diabetes as indicated by a diagnosis in primary care records.

Analysis time to event analysis using Cox regression was employed. Multiple imputation by chained equations was implemented to handle missing data. Models were adjusted for maternal age, ethnicity, education, preconception CMD and tobacco smoking during pregnancy.

Results 165 women (18%) were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes over a follow-up period of around 10 years. There was no evidence of an effect of antenatal CMD on the development of type 2 diabetes following GDM (adjusted HR 0.95; 95% CI 0.57 to 1.57).

Conclusions Women with CMD were not at an increased risk of type 2 diabetes following GDM. This is reassuring for women with these co-morbidities but requires replication in other study populations.