Women who experience depression during the first two trimesters of pregnancy are almost two-times as likely to develop gestational diabetes, according to a new study published in Diabetologia.
For the study, researchers analyzed pregnancy records and survey responses from 2,334 non-obese and 468 obese women between 8 to 13 weeks pregnant. The data was originally collected in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development's study on fetal growth. When the women enrolled for this initial study, they filled out a questionnaire designed to assess for symptoms of depression. The participants again filled out the questionnaire between weeks 16 and 22 of pregnancy and again six weeks after giving birth. Researchers for the new study reviewed the women's health records to identify participants who developed gestational diabetes.
While obesity is known to increase the risk of gestational diabetes, non-obese women who scored high for depression had nearly three times the risk of developing gestational diabetes as the other women in the study. Depression was not found to increase the risk of gestational diabetes among obese women. Overall, high depression scores in the first- to second-trimester were associated with a twofold risk increase for the condition.
"Our data suggest that depression and gestational diabetes may occur together," said the study's first author, Stefanie Hinkle, PhD, staff scientist in the division of intramural population health research at the National Institutes of Health's NICHD. "Until we learn more, physicians may want to consider observing pregnant women with depressive symptoms for signs of gestational diabetes. They also may want to monitor women who have had gestational diabetes for signs of postpartum depression."
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