Is there an association between family history of diabetes mellitus and long-term cardiovascular hospitalizations of offspring?

Objective: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) was previously found to be an independent risk factor for long-term cardiovascular morbidity of parturients and their offspring. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between family history of diabetes mellitus (DM) in non-diabetic mothers and long-term pediatric cardiovascular hospitalizations of their offspring.

Study Design: In a hospital-based cohort study, the incidence of cardiovascular disorders was compared between offspring of non-diabetic mothers with and without a family history of DM. Cardiovascular hospitalizations were assessed up until 18years of age according to a predefined set of ICD-9 codes associated with hospitalization of offspring. Exclusion criteria included multiple gestations, mothers with pre-gestational or gestational diabetes, lack of prenatal care, and children with congenital malformations and chromosomal abnormalities. A Kaplan-Meier survival curve was used to compare cumulative hospitalizations incidence. A cox proportional hazards model was performed to control for confounders.

Results: A total of 208,728 deliveries were included in the study. Of them, 17,040 (8.2%) offspring were born to non-diabetic mothers with a family history of DM. Significant differences in the rates of IVF, induction of labor, obesity, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, smoking and birth weight were found between the two study groups. Total cardiovascular hospitalizations were comparable between the study groups (0.6% vs. 0.7%, p=0.416). The Kaplan-Meier survival curve exhibited no difference in the cumulative incidence of total cardiovascular hospitalizations of the offspring (log-rank test, p=0.271). A Cox regression model found that a family history of DM in non-diabetic mothers was not independently associated with long-term cardiovascular hospitalizations of the offspring after controlling for the following confounders: maternal age, birth weight, caesarian section and maternal hypertensive disorders (aHR=1.130, 95% CI 0.930-1.374, p=0.220).

Conclusion: A family history of DM in non-diabetic parturients, does not increase the risk for cardiovascular hospitalizations of their offspring.