Evidence-based strategies for managing gestational diabetes in women with obesity

Pregnancies complicated by both obesity and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) increase the risk of maternal and fetal complications, including but not limited to gestational hypertension, cesarean surgical birth, fetal macrosomia and postpartum hemorrhage. Because of the increased maternal and fetal risks associated with maternal obesity and GDM, the development of evidence-based strategies for screening for and management of GDM and for timing of birth will provide a comprehensive approach needed to optimize outcomes for both women and newborns.

Measurement of fasting ketonuria and capillary blood glucose after main meals in women with gestational diabetes mellitus: How well is the metabolic picture captured?

AIM

Metabolic monitoring of women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) usually consists of measuring fasting ketonuria and postprandial capillary blood glucose (CBG) after main meals. We aimed to evaluate how this monitoring system captures the metabolic picture as compared to a scheme with a greater number of time points.

METHODS

Thirty-five women with GDM were recommended to follow a fractionated diet and trained in CBG and ketonuria monitoring. They were asked to monitor ketonuria before a main meal, and to monitor CBG at fasting and 1 h postprandial after any two of the six daily meals. Participants were requested to monitor different meals each day. The goal for 1 h postprandial CBG was <135 mg/dL (7.5 mmol/L). Ketonuria was defined as significant before a certain meal when ≥30% of measurements at that point were positive. Similarly, postprandial CBG was defined as abnormal after a meal when ≥30% measurements exceeded the goal.

RESULTS

Ketonuria was significant in 22.5% of the time points and 41.2% of women had significant ketonuria at one or more time points; 61% of the time points and 35.7% of the women with significant ketonuria would have been undetected with monitoring restricted to breakfast. Postprandial CBG was abnormal in 17.6% of meals and 57% of women had abnormal postprandial CBG at one or more meals; 37.8% of points and 15% of women with abnormal postprandial CBG would have been undetected with monitoring restricted to main meals.

CONCLUSION

A substantial proportion of metabolic abnormalities in GDM women are not detected with a monitoring program that measures only fasting ketonuria and postprandial CBG after main meals.

Are clinical practical guidelines (CPGs) useful for health services and health workforce planning? A critique of diabetes CPGs

AIMS

Chronic disease management is increasingly informed by clinical practice guidelines (CPGs). However, their implementation requires not only knowledge of guideline content by clinicians and practice processes that support implementation, but also a health workforce with the capacity to deliver care consistent with CPGs. This has a health services planning as well as a health workforce dimension. However, it is not known whether CPGs are described in a way that can inform health services and health workforce planning and potentially drive better quality care. This study aimed to ascertain whether CPGs are useful for health service and health workforce planning.

METHODS

This question was explored taking diabetes mellitus as a case study. A systematic search of Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL and Scopus was carried out to identify all CPGs relating to the management of diabetes mellitus in the primary healthcare setting. The search was limited to guidelines published in the English language between 2003 and 2009. The quality of guidelines was assessed against a subset of criteria set by the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE) collaboration.

RESULTS

Seventy-five diabetes-related CPGs were identified, of which 27 met the inclusion criteria. In terms of quality, many guidelines adopted evidence-based recommendations for diabetes care (59%) and most were endorsed by national authorities (70%). With regards to coverage of 17 identified subpopulations, guidelines were generally selective in the populations they covered. Whilst many provided adequate coverage of common complications and comorbidities, approaches to management for those with reduced capacity for effective diabetes self-care were largely absent, except for indigenous populations.

CONCLUSIONS

Clinical practice guidelines are potentially useful for health services and health workforce planning, but would be more valuable for this purpose if they contained more detail about care protocols and specific skills and competencies, especially for subpopulations who would be expected to have reduced capacity for effective self-care. If service planning ignores these subgroups that tend to require more resource-intensive management, underprovision of services is likely.