Self-reported barriers in self-management of women with gestational diabetes: A systematic review of qualitative studies.
Nuo Xu, Xia Han, Sijing Chen and 2 others
PMID 37700604WHAT IT FOUND
Women with gestational diabetes described barriers to self-management: unclear or non-personalised advice, not feeling ill, pain and needle distress, family food conflicts, cost, stigma, and weak clinic access.
They wanted trusted, practical support tailored to their life.
Key findings
01Barriers were grouped into knowledge and belief, skills and abilities, and environment and social support.
02Insufficient, fragmented or non-personalised information, together with not feeling ill, was reported as a barrier to self-management.
03Physical discomfort, needle distress, family food conflicts, cost, stigma and poor access to care were reported as practical barriers.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Only English and Chinese studies were included, and grey literature was omitted, so barriers from other languages or unpublished studies may be missing. Most included studies were graded B, not A, so the synthesis depends on studies with some methodological limitations. The review reports self-reported barriers, not tested interventions or patient outcomes, so it cannot show whether education, support or programme changes improve GDM control. The included studies varied by country, sample size and design, so the themes may not apply equally to all pregnant women with GDM. Only patient-reported outcomes were collected from studies that also involved healthcare professionals, so the views of nurses, doctors and dietitians were not synthesised.
Declared interests
The work was funded by a Nanjing Health Science and Technology Development project and a Nursing Science priority programme at Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions. The authors declared no competing interests.
The easy way to misread this
Do not treat this as evidence that a self-management programme works. It synthesises what women reported as barriers. It did not test an intervention or measure glycaemic or maternal outcomes.