Objective: We compared the prevalence of gestational diabetes and hypertensive disorders in the most recent pregnancy among women of Russian, Somali, and Kurdish origin and women in the general population in Finland.
Methods: The study groups were selected from population-based samples of 18- to 64-year-old women. The women were of Russian (n = 318), Somali (n = 583), and Kurdish (n = 373) origin or from the general population (n = 243), and had given birth in Finland between 2004 and 2014. The data were obtained from the National Medical Birth Register and the Hospital Discharge Register. Data on gestational diabetes and hypertensive disorders were extracted based on relevant International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision codes. The main statistical methods were logistic regression analyses adjusted for age, parity, body mass index, socioeconomic status, and smoking.
Results: The prevalence of gestational diabetes was 19.1% in Kurdish, 14.4% in Somali, 9.3% in Russian, and 11.8% in the general population. The prevalence of hypertensive disorders was 5.4% in the general population, 3.8% in Somali, 3.1% in Kurdish, and 1.7% in Russian. When adjusted for confounders, Kurdish women had two-fold odds for gestational diabetes (odds ratio = 1.98; 95% confidence interval = 1.20-3.32) compared with the general population, but the odds for hypertensive disorders did not differ between groups.
Conclusion: Women of Kurdish origin were more likely to develop gestational diabetes. Studies with larger samples are required to confirm these findings to develop prevention strategies for later development of type 2 diabetes. Future research including other migrant groups is recommended to identify differences in pregnancy complications among the women in migrant and general population.
Keywords: Finland; gestational diabetes; hypertensive disorders; migrants; pregnancy; pregnancy complications.