Failure to obtain follow-up testing for gestational diabetic patients in a rural population.
OBJECTIVE
To determine physician and patient compliance rates for diabetes testing in patients with previous gestational diabetes.


METHODS
Questionnaires regarding follow-up testing and personal health history were sent to 66 patients with previous gestational diabetes who did not have diabetes when they participated in a follow-up study conducted 5 years earlier. A 2-hour glucose tolerance test (GTT) was offered to those whose last test was done more than 1 year previously.


RESULTS
All 66 individuals returned the questionnaire and 20 (30.3%) reported having received a yearly 2-hour GTT. Of the remaining 46, 19 had been tested at least once in the previous 5 years, but 27 had not been tested. Of the patients who had been tested at least once in the 5-year period, their physicians initiated testing 61.5% of the time and the patients initiated the remainder. There were no significant differences between physician specialty and rate or appropriateness of the testing. Of 39 individuals who had been tested at least once in the 5-year period, eight had diabetes and four were glucose intolerant. Of 12 individuals who had not been tested in the past year and agreed to be tested in 1995, four had diabetes and two had glucose intolerance.


CONCLUSIONS
Although physicians and their gestational diabetic patients knew the risks of diabetes development, compliance with follow-up testing was poor and the risk of developing diabetes high.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Springfield, USA. rkaufmann@wpsmtp.siumed.edu
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D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000359:Aftercare; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000517:prevention & control; D003927:Diet, Diabetic; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D005951:Glucose Tolerance Test; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008875:Middle Aged; D010348:Patient Care Team; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D011247:Pregnancy; D011254:Pregnancy in Diabetics / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000517:prevention & control; D016312:Treatment Refusal