Kristine Kroeker

Association of Gestational Diabetes and Type 2 Diabetes Exposure In Utero With the Development of Type 2 Diabetes in First Nations and Non–First Nations Offspring

Importance Type 2 diabetes is increasing worldwide, disproportionately affecting First Nations (FN) people. Identifying early-life determinants of type 2 diabetes is important to address the intergenerational burden of illness. Objective To investigate the association of in utero exposure to gestational diabetes and type 2 diabetes, stratified by FN status, with the development of type 2 diabetes in offspring. Design, Setting, and Participants This cohort study was derived from the linkage of a pediatric diabetes clinical database and a population-based research data repository in Manitoba, Canada. Mother-infant dyads with a hospital birth or midwifery report in the data repository between April 1, 1984, and April 1, 2008, were identified. The dates of analysis were August through December 2017. Children identified with type 1 diabetes, monogenic diabetes, or secondary diabetes were excluded. Exposures Primary exposures included maternal gestational diabetes or type 2 diabetes and FN status. Main Outcomes and Measures The primary outcome was incident type 2 diabetes in offspring by age 30 years. Results In this cohort study of 467 850 offspring (mean follow-up, 17.7 years; 51.2% male), FN status and diabetes exposure were associated with incident type 2 diabetes in offspring after adjustment for sex, maternal age, socioeconomic status, birth size, and gestational age. Type 2 diabetes exposure conferred a greater risk to offspring compared with gestational diabetes exposure (3.19 vs 0.80 cases per 1000 person-years, P < .001). Compared with no diabetes exposure, any diabetes exposure accelerated the time to the development of type 2 diabetes in offspring by a factor of 0.74 (95% CI, 0.62-0.90) for gestational diabetes and a factor of 0.50 (95% CI, 0.45-0.57) for type 2 diabetes. First Nations offspring had a higher risk compared with non-FN offspring (0.96 vs 0.14 cases per 1000 person-years, P < .001). First Nations offspring had accelerated type 2 diabetes onset by a factor of 0.52 (95% CI, 0.49-0.55) compared with non-FN offspring. Neither interaction between FN and type 2 diabetes (0.92; 95% CI, 0.80-1.05) nor interaction between FN and gestational diabetes (0.97; 95% CI, 0.77-1.20) was significant (P = .21 and P = .75, respectively). Conclusions and Relevance Important differences exist in offspring risk based on type of diabetes exposure in utero. These findings have implications for future research and clinical practice guidelines, including early pregnancy screening and follow-up of the offspring.

The association of fatigue, pain, depression and anxiety with work and activity impairment in immune mediated inflammatory diseases

Impairment in work function is a frequent outcome in patients with chronic conditions such as immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMID), depression and anxiety disorders. The personal and economic costs of work impairment in these disorders are immense. Symptoms of pain, fatigue, depression and anxiety are potentially remediable forms of distress that may contribute to work impairment in chronic health conditions such as IMID. The present study evaluated the association between pain [Medical Outcomes Study Pain Effects Scale], fatigue [Daily Fatigue Impact Scale], depression and anxiety [Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale] and work impairment [Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Scale] in four patient populations: multiple sclerosis (n = 255), inflammatory bowel disease (n = 248, rheumatoid arthritis (n = 154) and a depression and anxiety group (n = 307), using quantile regression, controlling for the effects of sociodemographic factors, physical disability, and cognitive deficits. Each of pain, depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and fatigue individually showed significant associations with work absenteeism, presenteeism, and general activity impairment (quantile regression standardized estimates ranging from 0.3 to 1.0). When the distress variables were entered concurrently into the regression models, fatigue was a significant predictor of work and activity impairment in all models (quantile regression standardized estimates ranging from 0.2 to 0.5). These findings have important clinical implications for understanding the determinants of work impairment and for improving work-related outcomes in chronic disease.

Trends in population-based incidence and prevalence of juvenile idiopathic arthritis in Manitoba, Canada.

To estimate the incidence and prevalence of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) in children ages <16 years in the province of Manitoba, Canada, and to determine changes in estimates between 2000 and 2012.

Model-based methods for case definitions from administrative health data: application to rheumatoid arthritis

Objective This research proposes a model-based method to facilitate the selection of disease case definitions from validation studies for administrative health data. The method is demonstrated for a rheumatoid arthritis (RA) validation study. Study design and setting Data were from 148 definitions to ascertain cases of RA in hospital, physician and prescription medication administrative data. We considered: (A) separate univariate models for sensitivity and specificity, (B) univariate model for Youden’s summary index and (C) bivariate (ie, joint) mixed-effects model for sensitivity and specificity. Model covariates included the number of diagnoses in physician, hospital and emergency department records, physician diagnosis observation time, duration of time between physician diagnoses and number of RA-related prescription medication records. Results The most common case definition attributes were: 1+ hospital diagnosis (65%), 2+ physician diagnoses (43%), 1+ specialist physician diagnosis (51%) and 2+ years of physician diagnosis observation time (27%). Statistically significant improvements in sensitivity and/or specificity for separate univariate models were associated with (all p values <0.01): 2+ and 3+ physician diagnoses, unlimited physician diagnosis observation time, 1+ specialist physician diagnosis and 1+ RA-related prescription medication records (65+ years only). The bivariate model produced similar results. Youden’s index was associated with these same case definition criteria, except for the length of the physician diagnosis observation time. Conclusion A model-based method provides valuable empirical evidence to aid in selecting a definition(s) for ascertaining diagnosed disease cases from administrative health data. The choice between univariate and bivariate models depends on the goals of the validation study and number of case definitions.