Association of COVID-19 Lockdown With Gestational Diabetes Mellitus

IMPORTANCE: The ongoing pandemic of COVID-19 is still affecting our life, but the effects of lockdown measures on gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in pregnant women remain unclear. AIM: To investigate the association between COVID-19 lockdown and GDM. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Medical records of 140844 pregnant women during 2015-2020 were extracted from 5 hospitals in Guangdong Province, China. Pregnant women who underwent the COVID-19 Level I lockdown (1/23 - 2/24/2020) during pregnancy were defined as the exposed group (N=20472) and pregnant women who underwent the same calendar months during 2015-2019 (1/23 - 2/24) were defined as the unexposed group (N=120372). Subgroup analyses were used to explore the potential susceptible exposure window of COVID-19 lockdown on GDM. Cumulative exposure is quantitatively estimated by assigning different weights to response periods with different exposure intensities. A logistic regression model was used to estimate the association between COVID-19 lockdown exposure and GDM. RESULTS: The rates of GDM in the exposed and unexposed groups were 15.2% and 12.4%, respectively. The overall analyses showed positive associations (odds ratio, OR=1.22, 95%CI: 1.17, 1.27) between lockdown exposure and GDM risk in all pregnant women. More pronounced associations were found in women who underwent the COVID-19 lockdown in their first four months of pregnancy, and the adjusted OR values ranged from 1.24 (95%CI: 1.10, 1.39) in women with 5-8 gestational weeks (GWs) to 1.35 (95%CI: 1.20, 1.52) with < 5 GWs. In addition, we found a positive exposure-response association of cumulative lockdown exposure with the risk of GDM. CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 lockdown was associated with an increased risk of GDM, and the first four months of pregnancy may be the window for sensitive exposure.