The Relationship Between Gestational Diabetes and Antenatal Depression

Objective: To determine whether women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) had more symptoms of depression than women without GDM. A secondary aim was to determine if factors predictive of symptoms of depression in women with GDM were different than women without GDM. Design: A cross sectional, descriptive design was used. Setting: An outpatient clinic at an academic medical center. Participants: The sample included 135 pregnant women between 24 and 40 weeks gestation, of which 65 had GDM and 70 did not. Methods: The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Screen (EPDS) was used to measure symptoms of depression in pregnant women attending routine prenatal care visits. Descriptive statistics, logistic regression, and multiple regressions were done to analyze the data. Results: Twenty percent of women with GDM and 13% of women without GDM had significant symptoms of depression. Women with GDM were 3.79 times more likely to have a history of depression (95% confidence interval [CI] [1.07, 13.45], p =.04) than women without GDM after controlling for age, income, marital status, body mass index, and gravida. Trait anxiety and perceived stress were significant predictor factors of symptoms of depression (R-2 =.82, p <.001) for women with and without GDM. Conclusions: Results suggest that symptoms of depression are common during the antepartum period, thus assessment and education regarding this disorder are important. In addition, a history of depression may be a risk factor for the development of GDM.