A study of women who gave birth in New Zealand between January 2001 and December 2010 found those with gestational diabetes were more likely to be non-European, economically disadvantaged, reside in urban areas, unregistered with a lead maternity carer and more likely to smoke. The dataset included 601,166 eligible women, including 11,459 women with gestational diabetes who were randomly matched with 57,235 control women for age and year of delivery. Compared with European/other women, the adjusted odds ratios for gestational diabetes were 3.60 (95% confidence interval [CI] 3.39-3.82) for Asian women, 2.76 (95% CI 2.57-2.96) for Pasifika women and 1.23 (95% CI 1.15 1.31) for Māori women. Compared with control women, the odds of gestational diabetes were 1.44 (95% CI 1.34-1.56) for the most economically disadvantaged, 1.16 (95% CI 1.04-1.30) for those not registered with a lead maternity carer and 1.20 (95% CI 1.11-1.31) for those identified as smokers. The odds of gestational diabetes were lower for women residing in rural (0.83; 95% CI 0.77-0.88) and remote areas (0.68; 95% CI 0.60-0.77) compared with women living in urban areas. The study authors stated that women at risk of gestational diabetes should be identified and supported to undertake to a 75 g glucose challenge test between 24 and 28 weeks.
