PCOS & Gestational Diabetes

A history of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is a significant risk factor for the development of gestational diabetes, researchers have reported.

Previous studies have produced conflicting results about the link between PCOS and gestational diabetes, with some finding a significant association and others not.

For the new study, researchers from the departments of obstetrics and gynecology, and midwifery, at the Iran University of Medical Sciences, in Tehran, conducted a case-control investigation of cases of gestational diabetes occurring at the center between April 1996 and March 2004.

They identified a total of 732 cases of gestational diabetes (the diagnosis made based on the results of an impaired glucose tolerance test). After exclusions based on criteria such as maternal age greater than 36 years, a history of diabetes mellitus in a first-degree relative, a history of gestational diabetes, and a history of preterm labor or delivery, the final population consisted of 94 women, who were compared with an age-matched control group of 94 pregnant women without gestational diabetes.

In their new paper published in the journal Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice, the researchers say the prevalence of a history of PCOS was significantly higher in the gestational diabetes group than in the women without gestational diabetes (16 percent versus 6.4 percent, respectively).

The women in the gestational diabetes group also had a significantly higher body mass index and neonatal weight, a significantly lower gestational age, a significantly higher rate of cesarean delivery, and were significantly more likely to have a history of oligomenorrhea, compared with the women without gestational diabetes.

The researchers found that among overweight women (with a body mass index between 25 and 30 kg/m2), 12.5 percent of those with a history of PCOS had gestational diabetes, compared with only 1.9 percent in the control group. This difference was also statistically significant.

They conclude their analyses by stating: “In the present study, the risk of gestational diabetes increased in patients with a history of PCOS” (odds ratio 2.78).

After reviewing the conflicting findings from previous studies investigating PCOS and gestational diabetes, the researchers advise: “Regarding the above mentioned studies and in spite of the conflicting results, the screening of women with PCOS for gestational diabetes is suggested, especially if these women are obese.”