Self-Rated Health and Health Care Use Among Women With Histories of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus
- Catherine Kim, MD, MPH1,2 and
- Anjel Vahratian, PHD2
- 1Department of Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan;
- 2Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
- Corresponding author: Catherine Kim, cathkim{at}umich.edu.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To examine self-rated health and health care utilization among women with a history of gestational diabetes mellitus (hGDM).
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS This study was a cross-sectional analysis of the 2006 National Health Interview Survey of parous women with (n = 370) and without (n = 6,695) hGDM.
RESULTS Women with hGDM reported fair or poor health status and ≥10 office visits in the past year more frequently than women without hGDM. The higher prevalence of obesity in hGDM women accounted for their poorer self-rated health after adjustment for other demographic factors. Whereas the association between hGDM and more frequent office visits was reduced after adjustment for demographic factors including health insurance, hGDM was still associated with a lower odds of contact with a mental health professional.
CONCLUSIONS Because of obesity, women with hGDM have poorer self-rated health than women without hGDM. Contact with mental health providers was reduced compared with women without hGDM.
Footnotes
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The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked “advertisement” in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.
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- Received September 21, 2009.
- Accepted September 28, 2009.
- © 2010 by the American Diabetes Association.
