Factors affecting intrauterine environment exerts influence on skeletal health and fracture risk in later life. Diabetes during pregnancy is known to influence birth weight and is associated with fetal overgrowth. However, the effects of maternal diabetes on fracture risk in offspring is unknown. This study was aimed to evaluate the association between maternal diabetes and fracture risk in offspring. Using population-based administrative health data for Manitoba, Canada, we identified deliveries complicated by gestational diabetes and type 2 diabetes between April 1, 1980 and March 31, 2020. The cohort was followed for a median of 15.8 years. The primary outcome was any incident fracture in offspring. Secondary outcomes were long bone upper extremity fracture, long bone lower extremity fracture, vertebral fracture, and any non-trauma fractures. Cox proportional hazard regression models were used to estimate fracture risk in offspring by maternal diabetes status adjusted for relevant covariates. Of 585 176 deliveries, 26 397 offspring were born to women with diabetes (3.0% gestational diabetes and 1.5% type 2 diabetes) and 558 779 were born to women without diabetes. The adjusted risk for any fracture was 7% (HR 1.07; 95% CI, 2.7-11.5%) higher in offspring of mothers with diabetes than offspring of mothers without diabetes. Types of fractures were similar between the two groups with a predominance of long-bone upper extremity fractures. In conclusion, maternal diabetes was associated with a modest increase in fracture risk in offspring. Longitudinal prospective studies are needed to understand intrauterine and post-natal factors that may influence fracture risk in offspring of mothers with diabetes.
Keywords: and epidemiology; diabetes during pregnancy; fracture; fracture risk; gestational diabetes; population health; type 2 diabetes.
© The Author(s) [2024]. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.