The Impact of Continuous Glucose Monitoring on Maternal and Infant's Outcomes in Gestational Diabetes

The Impact of Continuous Glucose Monitoring on Maternal and Infant's Outcomes in Gestational Diabetes: Testing the Moderating Effects of Socioeconomic and Cultural Factors

This study will discuss the impact of continuous glucose monitoring on maternal and infant's outcomes in gestational diabetes mellitus, and test the moderating effect of socioeconomic and cultural factors (dietary habits, socioeconomic status and income).

Background: The global prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus is increasing. To reduce the negative impact of gestational diabetes mellitus on maternal and fetal health, managing blood glucose during pregnancy is important, which also shows the importance of blood glucose monitoring. Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) is different from traditional blood glucose meters (BGM). Continuous glucose monitoring is now known to have good control effects in type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus. However, there are still few randomized controlled trials for gestational diabetes mellitus and there are not consistent results. In addition, blood glucose management conditions vary among groups with different dietary habits, socioeconomic status and income. Food culture of Taiwan is diverse and it is easy to consume sugar or high carbohydrate foods. Continuous glucose monitoring can be more sensitive to measure glucose fluctuations, but it is still unknown whether it will have different maternal and infant health effects for groups whose glucose is prone to exceed the target range.

Objective: To explore the impact of continuous glucose monitoring on the health outcomes of mothers and infants with gestational diabetes mellitus, and to test the moderating effect of socioeconomic and cultural factors (dietary habits, socioeconomic status and income) on the relationship between continuous glucose monitoring and the health outcomes among mothers with gestational diabetes mellitus and their infants.

Methods: This study was a randomized controlled trial. It was expected that 120 pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus would be randomly assigned to the " Control group" (40 people) using blood glucose meters (BGM), or the "experimental group" (80 people) using continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) at a ratio of 1:2. In the "experimental group", they would be assigned to the " Experimental group1-Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) group" (40 people) or the " Experimental group2-Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) with nursing care group" (40 people). The " Experimental group2-Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) with nursing care group " would provide nursing intervention during the perinatal period. The outcome variables of the three groups would be tracked and compared with 3 time points, which were 24 to 32 weeks of pregnancy, 33 weeks of pregnancy to before delivery, and 4 to 12 weeks after delivery. The primary outcomes were maternal glycemic parameters, cardiometabolic risk factors, and fetal macrosomia. Secondary outcomes included gestational weight, depression and infant growth curve.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Aged 18 years or above
• Pregnant women diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus
• Those who are willing to participate in this study

Exclusion Criteria:

• Those who have been diagnosed with diabetes mellitus "before pregnancy"
• Those whose skin is likely allergic to some materials such as tapes (signs and symptoms such as redness, swelling, itching, painful, presenting blisters or rashes caused by wearing breathable tapes, patches, etc.)
• Those who is with abnormal coagulation function