p-GDm: Prevention of gestational diabetes v1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
p-GDm: A qualitative study of pregnant women's attitudes and willingness to engage with interventions to prevent gestational diabetes
IRAS ID
270870
Contact name
Lucy Mackillop
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
Gestational diabetes (GDM) is a common pregnancy-related condition which causes high blood glucose (sugar) levels and increases the risk of damaging effects for both mother and baby. The prevalence of GDM has increased by about a third over the past decade, and this is mainly explained by an increase in obesity.
GDM is usually diagnosed at 24-28 weeks of pregnancy and little is known about blood glucose levels in early pregnancy. Although preventing GDM is recognised as a priority by Diabetes UK, the most effective strategies have yet to be identified.
In Oxford, a remote monitoring digital application called GDm-Health™ has been developed. GDm-HealthTM supports management of GDM by a smart phone app that automatically transmits blood glucose measurements to a secure web site and allows for communication between healthcare professionals and women with GDM via texts. This system is clinically reliable and highly satisfactory to women with GDM, but has only been proven in women in later pregnancy with a confirmed diagnosis of GDM.
We are interested in applying this technology earlier in pregnancy to investigate its usefulness for prevention or earlier detection and management of GDM. However, asking women to test blood glucose levels before a formal diagnosis may be challenging and for this reason we intend to conduct a qualitative study asking women for their opinions about this. We intend to recruit 40 women at risk of developing GDM at their routine 12-week nuchal scan and invite them to take part in a recorded interview that lasts approximately 30 minutes. We will ask a series of open questions about blood testing and strategies for GDM prevention, transcribe the interviews and apply thematic analysis. The results will inform our future research in this area, and provide data for designing trials for the prevention of GDM.REC name
West of Scotland REC 5
REC reference
20/WS/0054
Date of REC Opinion
1 Apr 2020
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion