Quality of Life in Women with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: A Systematic Review

Table 1

Characteristics of included studies assessing the impact of GDM on Quality of Life.

Study	Country/setting/year	Study design	Aim		Measure of Quality of Life
Bień et al. [3]	Poland; Three hospitals; 2016	Observational study without control group	To assess the factors affecting QoL (and illness acceptance) in pregnant women diagnosed with GDM.	114 pregnant women with GDM	WHOQOL-BREF
Danyliv et al. [18]	Ireland; Five antenatal centers involved in The Atlantic Diabetes in Pregnancy (DIP) initiative; 2015	Observational; study with; control group	To compare QoL between GDM and NGT women 2 to 5 years after pregnancy. To explore participants characteristics which may influence their QoL.	234 women diagnosed with GDM during pregnancy; 108 women with a history of healthy pregnancy	Visual Analog Scale of the EQ-5D-3L
Kopec et al. [19]	Poland; University-affiliated GDM clinic; 2015	Observational; study without; control group (longitudinal)	To assess, among other objectives, factors affecting the QoL of pregnant women with GDM.	205 pregnant women diagnosed with GDM	SF-8
Trutnovsky et al. [20]	Austria; University GDM clinic; 2012	Observational; study without; control group (prospective)	To evaluate, among other outcomes, QoL of women treated for GDM.	45 pregnant women affected by GDM, divided based on type of treatment: 27 diet-treated women; 18 diet plus insulin women	WHOQOL-BREF
Lapolla et al. [9]	Italy; Ten diabetes centers specialized in the care of pregnant women; 2012	Observational; study without; control group	To evaluate QoL, wishes, and needs of Italian and immigrant women diagnosed with GDM.	286 pregnant women affected by GDM, divided into two groups: 198 Italian women; 88 immigrant women	QoL is only indirectly evaluated with questions covering feelings and concerns related to the diagnosis of GDM and its treatment
Dalfrà et al. [8]	Italy; Twelve diabetes clinics; 2012	Observational study with control group	To examine the impact of diabetes on QoL among pregnant women with diabetes (GDM and T1DM) compared with pregnant women with a normal glucose tolerance.	245 women divided into three groups: 176 pregnant women with GDM; 30 pregnant women with T1DM; 39 healthy controls (pregnant women with negative GCT or OGTT findings)	SF-36
Halkoaho et al. [21]	Finland; University hospital; 2010	Observational; study with; control group	To evaluate the effects of GDM on women’s QoL after delivery.	77 women diagnosed with GDM during pregnancy; 54 healthy controls (women with normal glucose tolerance tests during pregnancy)	15D HRQoL
Mautner et al. [22]	Austria; Public hospital; 2009	Observational; study with; control group (longitudinal)	To explore QoL (and the incidence of depressive symptoms) in women during pregnancy and after delivery, comparing women with GDM, hypertensive disorders, and risk for preterm delivery with a control group characterized by uncomplicated pregnancy.	90 pregnant women, divided into four groups: 18 women affected by hypertensive disorders; 11 women affected by GDM; 32 women at risk of preterm delivery; 29 healthy controls (pregnancy without complications)	WHOQOL-BREF
Kim et al. [23]	California, USA; Six hospitals; 2005	Observational; study with; control group (prospective)	To investigate the influence of GDM (and PIH) on maternal health status, testing the hypothesis that, among others, women with GDM would have a great likelihood to report declines in health status than women without GDM, with at least a partial mediation by cesarean birth or preterm delivery.	1445 pregnant women divided into three groups: 64 women with GDM; 148 women with PIH; 1233 healthy women	Physical functioning scale, vitality scale, and self-rated health item of the SF-36
Rumbold and Crowther [24]	South Australia; Hospital with a high-risk pregnancy service and neonatal intensive care unit; 2002	Observational; study with; control group (prospective)	To survey pregnant women on their experience of being screened for GDM, testing the hypothesis that women with a GDM diagnosis would experience a reduction in QoL (perception of the pregnancy, their health, and that of their baby) compared with women with a negative screening result.	145 pregnant women divided into two groups; 21 with positive OGTT (GDM group); 124 with negative OGTT	SF-36

GDM: Gestational Diabetes Mellitus; NGT: normal glucose tolerance; OGTT: oral glucose tolerance test; QoL: Quality of Life; PIH: pregnancy-induced hypertension; T1DM: type 1 diabetes mellitus; EQ-5D-3L: 3-level version of the EuroQol 5-Dimension; 15D HRQoL: 15-Dimensional Health-Related Quality of Life; SF-36: 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey; SF-8: 8-Item Short-Form Health Survey; WHOQOL-BREF: World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF.