USPSTF Reaffirms 2014 Guidance on Screening for Gestational Diabetes

The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has released an updated recommendation statement reaffirming their previous guidance on screening for gestational diabetes.

Published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the recommendation statement reaffirms the guidance released by the USPSTF in 2014, which included a B recommendation for screening for gestational diabetes at 24 weeks of gestation or after to improve maternal and fetal outcomes and maintained there was insufficient evidence to conclude a net benefit exists from screening before 24 weeks of gestation.

“While we know certain risk factors can increase a pregnant person’s chance of developing gestational diabetes, there is limited evidence on the effectiveness of screening before 24 weeks,” said Task Force member Michael Cabana, MD, MPH, a professor of pediatrics and chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, in a statement from the USPSTF. “The Task Force is calling for more research to determine whether earlier screening could be beneficial for some pregnant people.”

Published in a separate article within JAMA, investigators provide the evidence-base used in their latest recommendations statement. The article, which is further summarized in the slideshow below, details a systematic review and meta-analysis of data related to gestational diabetes screenings published within the MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CINAHL databases from 2010 through May 2020 and from ClinicalTrials.gov and reference lists through June 2021.

This recommendation statement, “Screening for Gestational Diabetes US Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement,” and supporting evidence, “Screening for Gestational Diabetes Updated Evidence Report and Systematic Review for the US Preventive Services Task Force,”, were published in JAMA.