Portrait of women with type 1 or type 2 diabetes of childbearing age attending diabetes clinics in Italy: the AMD-Annals initiative

Aim To describe characteristics relevant in case of an unplanned pregnancy for T1D or T2D women of childbearing age. Methods We analyzed the 2011 AMD-Annals dataset, compiling information from 300 clinics (28,840 T1D patients and 532,651 T2D patients). A risk score of unfavorable conditions for pregnancy included HbA1c > 8.0%; BMI ≥ 35; systolic BP ≥ 140 mmHg or diastolic BP ≥ 90 mmHg; microalbuminuria/proteinuria; use of statins, ACE inhibitors, ARB; use of diabetes drugs other than metformin/insulin. Results The proportion of T2D cases increased from 30.8% (95% CI 29.9–32.4) at age 18–30 years to 67.5% (66.6–68.5) at age 36–45 years. The proportion of women with HbA1c < 7.0% was 20.4% (20.0–20.8) in T1D and 43.4% (42.8–43.9) in T2D women. Furthermore, 47.6% (47.0–48.3) of T1D women and 34.5% (33.9–35.0) of T2D women had HbA1c ≥ 8.0%. The prevalence of obesity (BMI ≥ 30) was sevenfold higher among T2D than T1D women [49.9% (49.4–50.5) and 7.4% (7.2–7.5), respectively]. T2D women were more likely to have hypertension or microalbuminuria than T1D women. Almost half of the T2D women were taking drugs not approved during pregnancy. At least one unfavorable condition for starting a pregnancy was present in 51% of T1D women of childbearing age and in 66.7% of T2D women. Conclusions Women with either T1D or T2D of childbearing age in Italy were far from the ideal medical condition for conception. Our data strongly support the need for counseling all women with diabetes about pregnancy planning.