Poster Australasian Diabetes in Pregnancy Annual Scientific Meeting 2013

Migration Status and Gestational Diabetes Mellitus in the Australian Capital Territory (#118)

Donya Tohidi-Esfahani 1 , Louise Freebairn 2 , Rosemary Young 3 , Lynelle Boisseau 3 , Jason Levett 4 , Erica Wright 3 , Martha Ingle 3 , Catherine Baker 2 5 , Christopher Nolan 1 3
  1. Medical School, ANU College of Medicine, Biology & Environment, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
  2. Epidemiology Branch, ACT Health, Canberra, ACT, Australia
  3. The Canberra Hospital, ACT Health, Canberra, ACT, Australia
  4. Gungahlin Community Health Centre, ACT Health, Canberra, ACT, Australia
  5. Centre for Research on Ageing, Health and Wellbeing, ANU College of Medicine, Biology & Environment, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia

Objective: To determine if recent migration to Australia is a risk factor for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).

Methods: Demographics of 136 women with GDM who attended the ACT Diabetes Education Clinics from February to June 2013 were obtained by a questionnaire with particular focus on migrant status, geographic origin and years lived in Australia. Additional information obtained on participants included age, pre-pregnancy BMI, proficiency in spoken English and socioeconomic status. Data was compared to that of the ACT Perinatal and Maternal Data Collection (ACT-PNMDC) 2006-2010 and the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2011 Census.

Results:  Of the 136 women with GDM surveyed, 72(52.9%) were migrants to Australia with 30(22.1%) from South Asian countries, 17(12.5%) from South-East Asian countries, 13(9.6%) from China, and 12(8.8%) from all other countries. Two-thirds of these migrant women had migrated to Australia within the last 9 years. The migrant compared to Australian-born GDM women were of comparable age and socioeconomic background. Pre-pregnancy BMI was significantly lower in South-Asian and all other Asians compared to Australian-born women with GDM (25.9±4.8, 22.1±3.6 and 29.7±9.6 kg/m2, respectively; p<0.05). The 2006-2010 ACT-PNMDC showed that 6.5%, 4.4% and 3.0% of women with GDM and 2.3%, 2.2% and 1.0% of women without GDM were from South Asian countries, South-East Asian countries, and China, respectively. However, a high percentage of women (40.6%) were coded as coming from “other” countries in the ACT-PNMDC. Also of note, while 52.9% of the women with GDM in this survey were migrants to Australia, only 25.7% of females were coded as being migrants to Australia in the 2011 ABS census of the ACT.

Conclusions: Recent migrant women, particularly from Asian countries, are at increased risk of GDM in the ACT. This data will assist in tailoring GDM education programs to women most at risk.