Obstetricians seldom provide postpartum diabetes screening for women with gestational diabetes

Abstract

We aimed to determine whether obstetrician-gynecologists provided postpartum type 2 diabetes mellitus screening for women with a history of gestational diabetes. We identified women diagnosed with gestational diabetes, and then assessed whether obstetrician-gynecologists provided postpartum diabetes mellitus screening by ordering American Diabetes Association-recommended glucose tests or by referring women to primary care physicians for such testing. Of 2617 gravid women with a 1-hour glucose challenge test, 90 had gestational diabetes and postpartum follow-up. Only 20.0% (18/90) of women with a history of gestational diabetes had documented orders from obstetrician-gynecologists for American Diabetes Association-recommended postpartum diabetes mellitus screening tests. Even when we broadened our definition of "providing postpartum diabetes mellitus screening" to also include referrals to primary care physicians, only 33.3% (30/90) of women met such criteria. Obstetrician-gynecologists at an academic medical center did not provide postpartum diabetes mellitus screening for 66.7% of women with a history of gestational diabetes.