Follow up of gestational diabetes patients: a comparative study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A comparison of follow up rates of patients with gestational diabetes before and after the updating of NICE guidance advocating routine follow up
IRAS ID
247335
Contact name
Sebastian Walsh
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Research & Innovation/Clinical Trials Department, Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 2 months, 1 days
Research summary
This study will investigate follow up rates for patients diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). The 2 groups under comparison will be from before and after national guidance was updated to recommend routine follow up of patients with GDM.
GDM occurs when diabetes is diagnosed during the pregnancy of a lady who was not previously known to be diabetic. Usually, the patient's sugar levels will return to normal after the pregnancy. However, GDM increases the risk of problems during the pregnancy and also greatly increases her risk of developing type 2 diabetes in the future. By following up patients with GDM routinely after the pregnancy, we can try to optimise on-going risk factors for these problems. National guidance was updated in 2015 to reflect this, and we are investigating to see whether the rate of follow up increased after the guidance was updated to recommend routine follow up screening.
The study will also use the patients' postcode to infer the relative deprivation of her neighbourhood. This will allow us to compare the average neighbourhood deprivation of patients who were followed up with patients who weren't - thus allowing us to consider whether patients from more deprived backgrounds might need more comprehensive approaches to following them up to avoid exacerbating healthcare inequalities.
REC name
South Central - Hampshire B Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/SC/0324
Date of REC Opinion
18 Jun 2018
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion