Women Born Preterm or with Inappropriate Weight for Gestational Age Are at Risk of Subsequent Gestational Diabetes and Pre-Eclampsia

Introduction: Low birthweight, which can be caused by inappropriate intrauterine growth or prematurity, is associated with development of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) as well as pre-eclampsia later in life, but the relative effects of prematurity and inappropriate intrauterine growth remain uncertain. Methods: Through nation-wide registries we identified all Danish mothers in the years 1989–2007. Two separate cohorts consisting mothers born 1974–1977 (n = 84219) and 1978–1981 (n = 32376) were studied, due to different methods o

Descriptive Epidemiology of Chronic Hypertension, Gestational Hypertension, and Preeclampsia in New York State, 1995–2004

We examined social, demographic, and behavioral predictors of specific forms of hypertensive disorders in pregnancy in New York State. Administrative data on 2.3 million births over the period 1995–2004 were available for New York State, USA, with linkage to birth certificate data for New York City (964,071 births). ICD-9 hospital discharge diagnosis codes were used to assign hypertensive disorders hierarchically as chronic hypertension, chronic hypertension with superimposed preeclampsia, preeclampsia (eclampsia/severe or mild), or gestational hypertension. Sociodemographic and behavioral predictors of these outcomes were examined separately for upstate New York and New York City by calculating adjusted odds ratios. The most commonly diagnosed conditions were preeclampsia (2.57 % of upstate New York births, 3.68 % of New York City births) and gestational hypertension (2.46 % of upstate births, 1.42 % of New York City births). Chronic hypertension was much rarer. Relative to non-Hispanic Whites, Hispanics in New York City and Black women in all regions had markedly increased risks for all hypertensive disorders, whereas Asian women were at consistently decreased risk. Pregnancy-associated conditions decreased markedly with parity and modestly among smokers. A strong positive association was found between pre-pregnancy weight and risk of hypertensive disorders, with slightly weaker associations among Blacks and stronger associations among Asians. While patterns of chronic and pregnancy-induced hypertensive disorders differed, the predictors of gestational hypertension and both mild and severe preeclampsia were similar to one another. The increased risk for Black and some Hispanic women warrants clinical consideration, and the markedly increased risk with greater pre-pregnancy weight suggests an opportunity for primary prevention among all ethnic groups

Maternal Recall Versus Medical Records of Metabolic Conditions from the Prenatal Period: A Validation Study

OBJECTIVES: To assess validity of maternally-reported diabetes and hypertensive disorders, and reliability of BMI measurements during periconception and pregnancy compared with medical records when mothers are interviewed 2-5 years after delivery. To investigate whether reporting accuracy differed by child's case status (autism, delays, typical development). METHODS: Participants were mothers of 2-5 year old children with and without neurodevelopmental disorders from the CHARGE (CHildhood Autism Risks from Genetics and the Environment) Study who had both prenatal/delivery records and telephone interviews. Sensitivity and specificity of self-report in telephone interview was assessed by comparison with medical records; agreement was evaluated by kappa statistics. Deviations in reported BMI were evaluated with Bland-Altman plots and concordance correlation coefficient (CCC). RESULTS: Mothers of children with neurodevelopmental disorders (autism or developmental delay) reported metabolic conditions slightly more accurately than control mothers. For diabetes, sensitivity ranged from 73% to 87% and specificity was ≥98% across groups. For hypertensive disorders, sensitivity ranged from 57% to 77% and specificity from 93% to 98%. Reliability of BMI was high (CCC=0.930); when grouped into BMI categories, a higher proportion of mothers of delayed children were correctly classified (κ(wt)=0.93) compared with the autism group and controls (κ(wt)=0.85 and κ(wt)=0.84, respectively; P=0.05). Multiparity was associated with higher discrepancies in BMI and misreporting of hypertensive disorders. CONCLUSIONS: For purposes of etiologic studies, self-reported diabetes and hypertensive disorders during periconception and pregnancy show high validity among mothers irrespective of child's case status. Recall of pre-pregnancy BMI is reliable compared with self-reported values in medical records