During pregnancy, a woman's health undergoes major physical and psychological changes. Even in uncomplicated pregnancies, these changes can affect the physical component of the pregnant woman's quality of life, as well as the health of the mother and fetus. Earlier attempts have been made to study the quality of life c physiologic pregnancy and assessed the associated socio-demographic, physical and psychological factors in developed countries, in addition, a systematic review was published in 2018. The diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus is associated with the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes for both mother and fetus, which may negatively affect quality of life. The objectives of the present study were to investigate the characteristics of quality of life in pregnant women with of gestational diabetes mellitus in comparison with women with physiologically normal pregnancy. This work is part of further planned research to analyze the risks of reduced public health quality in the management of pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus.
Materials and Methods. From Maya 2023 to January 2024, a sociological survey of 553 pregnant women referred for consultation with an endocrinologist at the consultative and diagnostic department of the perinatal center of the S.S.Yudin State Clinical Hospital in Moscow was conducted using online questionnaires. The SF-36 questionnaire (The Short Form-36) is an international questionnaire used to study the quality of life, validated in Russia. The socio-demographic characteristics block of the questionnaire was adapted by the authors of the study to interview pregnant women. The aim of the present study was to further contribute to the knowledge of the clinical relationship between of gestational diabetes mellitus and physical and psychological components of the quality of life of pregnant women.
Compliance with ethical standards: the study was approved by the Interuniversity Ethics Committee, Protocol No. 4 of 13.04.2023. Respondents signed informed consent to participate in the study, and gave consent to publish the results of sociological surveys.
Results. The study revealed that the physical component of quality of life was statistically significantly reduced in pregnant women with of gestational diabetes mellitus. The leading factors determining the physical functioning of the mother are pregnancy term and age. The decrease of the physical component of pregnant women with of gestational diabetes mellitus quality of life deserves serious attention for the development of unified programs for pregnant women with of gestational diabetes mellitus as part of a strategy to counter the risks of deterioration in the quality of public health of pregnant women associated with medical and social determinants of public health. Such unified programs for pregnant women with of gestational diabetes mellitus must include dosed physical activity, training in the principles of diet therapy and psychological self-regulation to form pregnant women’s with of gestational diabetes mellitus commitment to a healthy lifestyle. In the development and implementation of such programs for pregnant women with of gestational diabetes mellitus, endocrinologists, medical psychologists, and exercise therapy doctors should take an active part, along with obstetricians and gynecologists.
The decrease in the physical component of quality of life in pregnant women with GDM certainly deserves attention for the development of individual/universal programs of dosed physical activity, teaching the principles of nutritional therapy in the direction of the formation of commitment to a healthy lifestyle in pregnant women. Detection of a pathological condition in a future mother is always a stressful factor, in this regard, psychological counseling/work with a psychologist seems reasonable to improve the care and quality of life of pregnant women with of gestational diabetes mellitus.