Barriers to Adherence to Recommended Follow-up in Women With a History of Gestational Diabetes

For this pilot study, we propose to conduct a 3-grouped randomized controlled trial to evaluate whether a 1 ½ to 2 hour on-line nutrition and physical activity intervention +/- block testing of blood glucoses fasting and 2 hours after each meal for 4 days/month from starting at 3 months postpartum and concluding at 9 months postpartum will: 1) improve adherence to the receipt of diabetes screening at 12 months postpartum through the recommended 75 gram 2 hour oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) or fasting blood glucose test, 2) lower glucose values on the 75 gram 2 hour oral glucose tolerance test or fasting blood glucose test and 3) improve attainment of weight loss targets among women with a recent history of GDM. Patients will participate in an online nutrition and physical activity class from 6 weeks to 3 months and 9 months for women assigned to both groups 2 and 3. For those women assigned to group 3, they will also do block testing using an assigned blood glucose meter and test strips 4 times a day for 4 consecutive days each month, starting at 3 months and ending at 9 months. Women will have the option of submitting meter blood glucose data via e-mailed logs or downloading directly to the clinic using Diasend software. Once downloaded, the Diasend software will create a PDF document with all recorded blood glucose values. For purposes of this study, we will obtain a Diasend account specific to this study, which will allow women to download blood glucose information with an anonymous unique identifier that can be accessed by the study's Principal Investigator and the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI)-certified, International Review Board (IRB)-approved research assistant. Upon accessing the PDF document with the blood glucose meter information, both the PI and the Research Assistant can link blood glucose data with questionnaire and other health information collected in this study through the unique identifiers.