Maternal gestational diabetes and long-term respiratory related hospitalizations of the offspring

Aims: To assess the implications of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) on long-term respiratory related hospitalizations of the offspring. Methods: A population-based cohort analysis including singleton pregnancies delivered between the years 1991 to 2014 in a tertiary referral hospital was conducted. Incidence of hospitalizations (up to age 18 years) due to various respiratory diseases was compared between offspring of GDM-complicated pregnancies and normoglycemic pregnancies. Kaplan-Meyer curves were used to assess cumulative hospitalization incidence. Cox proportional hazards model was used to control for baseline selected confounders. Results: During the study period 216,197 deliveries met the inclusion criteria. Of those, 4.7% (n = 10,184) were complicated by GDM. In most of the investigated respiratory diseases, no significant differences were found between offspring of both groups. Nonetheless, obstructive sleep apnea-related hospitalization rate was higher among the GDM group, an association which proved to be independent of potential confounders with an adjusted hazard ratio of 1.26 (95% CI 1.02–1.55; p = 0.036). Conclusion: Gestational diabetes mellitus does not appear to be associated with long-term respiratory hospitalizations of the offspring other than obstructive sleep apnea-related hospitalizations.