Gestational diabetes mellitus is a significant risk factor for long-term ophthalmic morbidity.

Purpose: To investigate whether patients with a history of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) have an increased risk for long-term ophthalmic morbidity.

Methods: Design a population-based study compared the incidence of long-term maternal ophthalmic morbidity in a cohort of women with and without a history of GDM. Setting Soroka University Medical Center.

Participants: All singleton pregnancies of women who delivered between 1988 and 2013. Main outcome measure(s) Diagnosis of ophthalmic morbidity. Analyses A Kaplan-Meier survival curve was used to estimate cumulative incidence of ophthalmic morbidity. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate the adjusted hazard ratios (HR) for ophthalmic morbidity.

Results: During the study period, 104,751 deliveries met the inclusion criteria; 9.4% (n = 9888) of which occurred in patients with a diagnosis of GDM during at least one of their pregnancies. Patients with GDM had a significantly higher incidence of ophthalmic morbidity such as glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, and retinal detachment compared with controls (0.1 vs. 0.02%, p < 0.001; 0.2 vs. 0.04%, p < 0.001; 0.2 vs. 0.1%, p < 0.001, respectively). Patients with concurrent GDM and preeclampsia had a significantly higher incidence of total ophthalmic complications compared to patients with GDM only (1 vs. 0.6%, respectively, p < 0.001). Using Kaplan-Meier survival curve, patients with a previous diagnosis of GDM had significantly higher cumulative incidence of ophthalmic morbidity (p < 0.001, log-rank test). In the Cox proportional hazards model, a history of GDM remained independently associated with ophthalmic morbidity (adjusted HR 2.0; 95% CI 1.5-2.8; p < 0.001).

Conclusions: GDM is an independent risk factor for long-term maternal ophthalmic morbidity.