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

Table 2

Characteristics of included studies assessing the impact of treatments on Quality of Life among GDM pregnant women.

Study	Country/setting/year	Study design	Aim		Measure of Quality of Life
Latif et al. [25]	England; Two hospitals; 2013	Quasi-experimental study; Three conditions: (1) Treatment with metformin; (2) Treatment with insulin; (3) Treatment with metformin + insulin	To examine QoL (and treatment satisfaction) of women affected by GDM receiving metformin alone, insulin alone, or a combination of both treatments.	128 women diagnosed with GDM during pregnancy; assigned to one of three conditions: 68 treated with metformin; 32 treated with insulin; 28 treated with metformin + insulin	ADDQoL
Petkova et al. [26]	Bulgaria; Antenatal clinic; 2011	Quasi-experimental study; Two conditions: (1) Education group (intervention); (2) Control group	To investigate the effectiveness of an educational program for pregnant women with GDM on their QoL (and other outcomes).	30 pregnant women affected by GDM assigned to one of two conditions: 15 assigned to the intervention condition (education program); 15 assigned to the control condition	Five items measuring QoL
Dalfrà et al. [27]	Italy; Twelve diabetes clinics; 2009	Quasi-experimental study; Two conditions: (1) Telemedicine condition (intervention); (2) Usual care condition (control)	To assess the effect of a telemedicine intervention on QoL (and other outcomes) among pregnant women with diabetes (GDM and T1DM).	235 pregnant women divided into two groups: 203 women with GDM; 32 women with T1DM; Participants of each group were sequentially assigned to one of two conditions: 88 women affected by GDM and 17 women affected by T1DM assigned to the telemedicine condition; 115 women affected by GDM and 15 women affected by T1DM assigned to the control condition	SF-36
Elnour et al. [28]	United Arab Emirates; Hospital; 2008	Experimental; study (RCT); Two; conditions: (1) Pharmaceutical care program (intervention); (2) Usual care (control)	To evaluate the effect of a pharmaceutical care intervention programme for women with GDM on QoL (and other outcomes) both during pregnancy and after delivery.	180 pregnant women diagnosed with GDM; randomly assigned to one of two conditions: 108 assigned to the intervention condition; 72 assigned to the control condition	SF-36
Crowther et al. [29]	New South Wales; Queensland; South Australia; England; Wales; Eighteen antenatal clinics; 2005	Experimental; study (RCT); Two; conditions: (1) Intervention group; (2) Routine-care group (control)	To examine the effect of an intervention (including dietary advice, blood glucose monitoring, and insulin therapy) for women with GDM on QoL (and other primary and secondary outcomes).	1000 pregnant women with GDM, randomly assigned to one of two conditions: 490 assigned to the intervention condition; 510 assigned to the control condition	SF-36

GDM: Gestational Diabetes Mellitus; QoL: Quality of Life; T1DM: type 1 diabetes mellitus; ADDQoL: Audit of Diabetes-Dependent Quality of Life; SF-36: 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey.