GP INPUT SOUGHT FOR DIABETES SURVEY Australian GPs are being encouraged to contribute to a national survey on gestational diabetes. The Mothers After Gestational Diabetes in Australia (MAGDA) project team has developed an anonymous online survey that aims to create a national picture of how GPs and women who have had gestational diabetes view the current situation and potential areas for reform. The MAGDA survey can be accessed through the study’s website (magdastudy.org.au) and GP input is urgently sought. It is looking for GPs who care for women who developed gestational diabetes while pregnant to add their voice to improving the diabetes prevention care delivered to these women. Deakin University’s Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition (C-PAN) dietitian Dr Sharleen O’Reilly said the results of the survey will inform a pilot intervention, based in Victoria, aimed at optimising diabetes prevention care in a meaningful and sustainable way for women with a history of gestational diabetes. “The greater the response from GPs, the stronger their voice will be in the design of the intervention,” Dr O’Reilly said. More than 20,000 Australian women are estimated to have a pregnancy complicated by gestational diabetes annually and this number is rising, along with population obesity rates. Gestational diabetes increases a woman’s risk of having complications during pregnancy and birth. One in two women who have had gestational diabetes go on to develop type 2 diabetes and their heart disease rate is also increased. Their babies are also at increased risk of obesity and diabetes which means the cycle of diabetes becomes expanded within families as time goes by. However, clinical trials demonstrate the incidence of type 2 diabetes can be reduced by 58 per cent with lifestyle change and the effect continues 10 years after the trial has stopped. Several guidelines exist to support GPs providing appropriate diabetes prevention care to women who have had gestational diabetes. However they have discrepancies, which can leave a GP asking which one is best to follow and lead to inertia. The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) has funded the MAGDA partnership project to create a system change for the care of women who have had gestational diabetes. Chief Investigator for the study and Greater Green Triangle University Department of Rural Healths Director, Professor James Dunbar, said it is important to identify whether a system change for diabetes prevention in women with a history of GDM leads to a reduction in the risk of diabetes greater than that seen with usual care. “The results of this study will be vital for developing policy over the next decade. The challenge, of course, will be to put the findings into action, Professor James Dunbar said. The GGT UDRH is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and is a partnership between Flinders and Deakin Universities. To arrange an interview or photos please contact Rick Bayne on 0418 140 489
Posted on: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 08:59:33 +0000
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