Risk of developing metabolic syndrome after gestational diabetes mellitus - a systematic review and meta-analysis

Purpose A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to quantitatively synthesize the current evidence regarding the risk of developing metabolic syndrome (MetS) in women with a personal history of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), without pre-existing diabetes, compared with those without a history of GDM. Methods Four electronic databases [MEDLINE (via PubMed), Scopus, Cochrane Library, PROSPERO] were searched for relevant literature until July 29th 2020. Cochran’s Q test was applied for the assessment of heterogeneity. The random-effects model was applied by calculating the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for each study. Publication bias was estimated with Egger’s linear regression test. Results The results from 23 studies (10,230 pregnant women; 5169 cases, 5061 controls), indicated that women with a history of GDM had a higher risk of developing MetS compared with those without such a history (OR 3.45; 95% CI 2.80–4.25, p