A Follow-up of a Randomized Study of Metformin and Insulin in Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: Growth and Development of the Children at the Age of 18 Months

Abstract

(BJOG. 2015;122(7):994–1000) The present study is a follow-up to a previous randomized-controlled trial conducted by the authors, which compared metformin and insulin as pharmacological treatments of gestational diabetes mellitus. That study found both treatments to be equivalent for the prevention of fetal macrosomia and found no difference between the study groups in the incidence of short-term perinatal adverse events. The present study compared the growth and motor, social, and linguistic development up to 18 months of age in children exposed during pregnancy to maternal metformin or insulin. The primary outcome was the children’s weight and height at ages 6, 12, and 18 months. In addition to motor, social, and linguistic development until the age of 18 months, secondary outcomes included body composition of the children as defined by ponderal index (PI) and the rates of overweight and obesity.