SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Endocrinol.
Sec. Clinical Diabetes
Long-Term Risk of All-Cause Mortality and Cardiovascular Events in Women with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Provisionally accepted
- Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, China
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Background: This meta-analysis investigates the long-term association between gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and the risks of all-cause mortality and specific cardiovascular events in women. Methods: We analyzed 9 high-quality cohort studies involving 4,191,840 women (age range: 24.5-34.6 years). Results: Compared to women without GDM, those with a history of GDM had significantly increased risks of:All-cause mortality (HR = 1.29, 95% CI 1.09-1.52),Acute heart failure (HR = 1.74, 95% CI 1.36-2.23),Myocardial infarction (HR = 1.63, 95% CI 1.38-1.91),Ischemic stroke (HR = 1.70, 95% CI 1.28-2.26).Heterogeneity was observed for all outcomes except myocardial infarction. Sensitivity analyses confirmed the robustness of the findings. The absolute incidence of all-cause mortality was also higher in the GDM group (3.2% vs. 2.5%). No significant publication bias was detected. Conclusion: GDM is significantly associated with elevated long-term risks of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular morbidity. These findings underscore the necessity for long-term monitoring and preventive strategies in this population, even after postpartum glucose normalization.
Keywords: All - Cause Mortality, cardiovascular events, gestational diabetes mellitus, Long - Term Risk, Meta - analysis, Systematic review
Received: 13 Jun 2025; Accepted: 05 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Zeng, Yin, Yin, Chen, Yang, Shi, Zhao and Luo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Xiaoping Yin
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