Keywords gestational diabetes - pregnancy - insulin - risk - therapy
Schlüsselwörter Gestationsdiabetes - Schwangerschaft - Insulin - Risiko - Therapie
Introduction
The prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), defined as a glucose tolerance
disorder first diagnosed during pregnancy using standardised testing methods, was
reported to be nearly 10% in Germany for the first time in 2021, according to perinatal
statistics from the Institute for Quality Assurance and Transparency in Healthcare
(IQTIG) [1 ]. In most cases, glucose tolerance disorders can be managed through conservative
methods such as nutritional counselling, glucose monitoring, lifestyle interventions,
and physical activity, thereby preventing maternal and fetal complications (e.g.,
preeclampsia, macrosomia, caesarean delivery and neonatal hypoglycaemia or admission
to neonatal care units) [2 ]
[3 ]
[4 ]
[5 ]. If target glucose levels cannot be achieved despite the full implementation of
conservative measures, insulin therapy is indicated [6 ]. The proportion of women with GDM requiring insulin therapy has remained consistently
around 30% in Germany [7 ]. For optimising obstetric outcomes in GDM, the prevention of maternal hyperglycaemia
and the prompt achievement of target glucose levels are essential [8 ]. Given the limited time window of pregnancy, insulin therapy should be initiated
without delay once conservative measures are exhausted to ensure timely and adequate
glycaemic control [6 ]
[9 ]. Identifying high-risk patients enables close monitoring and the timely initiation
of insulin therapy to achieve normoglycaemia as quickly as possible. Due to the heterogeneity
of GDM, national and international publications recommend individualised treatment
approaches based on risk stratification at the time of diagnosis of GDM [10 ]
[11 ].
As indicators for the necessity of insulin therapy during pregnancy, these publications
cite body mass index (BMI), a history of GDM, and glucose levels at diagnosis [10 ]
[11 ]
[12 ].
A personalised risk stratification based on a risk score can be used by both affected
patients and healthcare providers to assess individual risk, allowing for targeted
counselling, individualised monitoring intervals, and the joint establishment of intervention
strategies. Awareness of one’s own risk for requiring insulin therapy may ideally
enhance patient motivation for consistent adherence to lifestyle modifications and
help reduce frustration in cases where insulin intervention becomes necessary.
The aim of this study was to develop a practical and applicable risk score based on
real-world treatment data from the GestDiab registry and to make it available to healthcare
providers.
Materials and Methods
The GestDiab registry is the largest German registry for pregnancies affected by gestational
diabetes mellitus (GDM), type 1 diabetes mellitus, and type 2 diabetes mellitus. It
collects healthcare data, perinatal outcomes, and follow-up results for GDM, which
are documented in participating specialist diabetes practices (“Diabtesschwerpunktpraxen”;
DSPs) and diabetes outpatient clinics. The GestDiab project is managed by the Scientific
Institute of Office-Based Diabetologists (winDiab gGmbH). Initially launched in 2008
in North Rhine, GestDiab now includes data from 85 DSPs and diabetes outpatient clinics
across Germany.
Patients whose data are entered into the registry provided written consent for the
pseudonymised collection of their data within the GestDiab registry. Participation
in GestDiab as study centres is voluntary and largely uncompensated for the involved
DSPs and diabetes outpatient clinics.
The project data collected as part of routine care were pseudonymised and recorded
in the online database “secuTrial,” developed by interActive Systems GmbH Berlin.
SecuTrial is a professional, browser-based, and flexible software system for capturing
patient data in clinical studies and registries, compliant with current data protection
regulations.
The transmission of patient-related data (anonymised during processing by the various
DSPs and diabetes outpatient clinics) occurs annually in a separate dataset, which
is routinely analysed and provided to study centres in the form of benchmarking reports
for internal quality control. The GestDiab registry has been approved by the Ethics
Committee of the Medical Association of North Rhine (Ethics Committee No.: 2019272)
and 15 additional ethics committees. The use of registry data complies with applicable
data protection regulations.
Cohort composition
Between 2018 and 2020, a total of 18481 pregnancies were recorded in the GestDiab
registry. Our analysis excluded datasets from pregnant individuals with pre-existing
diabetes mellitus (n = 986), those with missing data on the 75 g oral glucose tolerance
test (oGTT) (n = 695), and cases lacking information on the treatment method (n = 1152).
Additionally, patients who discontinued therapy or consultations at their respective
DSP or diabetes outpatient clinic were not considered in this study (n = 1708) ([Fig. 1 ]).
Fig. 1
Cohort composition for the present analysis. Some cases met more than one exclusion
criterion and are therefore represented in multiple categories. GDM: gestational diabetes
mellitus; n: number of subgroup; oGTT: oral glucose tolerance test.
Of the remaining 14157 pregnancies included in the analysis, 4319 (30.5%) required
insulin therapy during pregnancy.
Prediction models
To develop prediction models for insulin therapy, the clinical parameters available
at the time of diagnosis were tested in four different models. Since GDM diagnosis
in Germany is made both in obstetric-gynaecological practices and primarily in DSPs,
different predictive models were designed. In addition to a comprehensive model incorporating
all 11 relevant parameters (Model 1: “All Combined”), further models were created
using either gynaecologically obtained parameters (Model 2: “Gyn”) or primarily diabetologically
obtained parameters (Model 3: “Diab”), as well as a model with a minimal set of data
(Model 4: “Short”). For the development of the prediction models, SI units were used
for HbA1c (mmol/mol) and glucose (mmol/l).
Model 1 (“All Combined”) includes 11 discriminative variables that showed significant
differences in the descriptive group comparison between women with and without insulin
therapy: maternal age at the estimated due date (years), gestational age at diagnosis
(weeks of gestation, WOG), parity (total number of births), gravidity (total number
of pregnancies, including the current one), pre-pregnancy BMI (kg/m²), 75 g oGTT values
in mmol/l (fasting glucose, 1-hour value, 2-hour value), HbA1c (mmol/mol), as well
as the following dichotomous variables: history of GDM and a family history of diabetes
(first-degree relatives).
Model 2 (“Gyn”) includes eight of these 11 variables that are available to gynaecologists
at the time of diagnosis (age, BMI, WOG, gravidity, parity, fasting glucose, 1-hour
value, 2-hour value from the oGTT).
Model 3 (“Diab”) includes seven of the 11 variables available to diabetologists (age,
BMI, WOG, fasting glucose, 1-hour value, 2-hour value from the oGTT, HbA1c).
Model 4 (“Short”) is limited to the minimum set of potentially available data, consisting
of five variables (age, BMI, WOG, fasting glucose, HbA1c).
Statistical methods
For the comparison of categorical data, the two-sided Chi² test or Fisher’s exact
test was used. Continuous data were summarised using the median and the 25th and 75th
percentiles, as normal distribution was generally not present. Metric data were compared
between groups using the two-sided Mann-Whitney U test.
Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses were performed for individual predictors
to assess the accuracy of predicting insulin therapy based on the area under the curve
(AUC) with 95% confidence intervals.
For insulin therapy, multiple binary logistic regression was applied using the predictors
of each respective prediction model x1 , … . xk (where k represents the number of factors) as independent variables. The probability
of requiring insulin therapy P(y = 1)) for individual patients was calculated using
the following formula:
P
y
=
1
=
1
1
+
e
-
(
β
0
+
β
1
·
x
1
+
β
2
·
x
2
+
β
3
·
x
3
+
···
+
β
k
·
x
k
+
ε
)
P\left(y=1\right)={1\over{1{+}{e}^{\hbox{‐}({\beta }_{0}{+}{\beta }_{1}\cdot {x}_{1}{+}{\beta
}_{2}\cdot {x}_{2}{+}{\beta }_{3}\cdot {x}_{3}{+}\cdots {+}{\beta }_{k}\cdot {x}_{k}{+}\epsilon
)}}}
The parameters β0 , …, βk are the estimators for the coefficients of the multiple binary logistic regression
model. A ROC analysis was performed to discriminate the two groups using the patient-specific
probability of insulin treatment determined in the model. The cut-off value for distinguishing
the groups was determined by the maximum Youden index (4). To validate the prediction
model, the discrimination of insulin-treated and diet-managed GDM was examined in
an independent cohort using the cut-off.
The negative and positive predictive values (NPV and PPV) were calculated for the
various prediction models. The level of significance was set at α = 0.05, and no correction
for multiple testing was made due to the exploratory nature of the study. The statistical
analysis was performed using SPSS 29.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY).
Results
Description of the GestDiab cohort
Women with insulin-treated GDM (iGDM) were significantly older, heavier (body weight
and BMI), and had more prior pregnancies and deliveries than women with diet-managed
GDM (dGDM) ([Table 1 ]).
Table 1
Descriptive parameters of the total cohort (n = 14157) and presentation of group differences
between patients with diet controlled (dGDM; n = 9838) and insulin-treated gestational
diabetes mellitus (iGDM; n = 4319).
Variables
Cases
Total Cohort
(n = 14157)
dGDM
(n = 9838)
iGDM (n = 4319)
p
APGAR = a scoring system for assessing the clinical condition of the newborn (APGAR
= Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity and Respiration); DM = diabetes mellitus; Fetal
hypoglycaemia = requiring either oral or intravenous glucose; GA = gestational age;
NICU = neonatal intensive care unit; * = significant difference between iGDM and dGDM
(p < 0.05)
Maternal age at delivery (years)
14157
33 (29–36)
33 (29–36)
33 (30–37)
< 0.001*
Parity
14116
1 (0–1)
1 (0–1)
1 (0–2)
< 0.001*
Gravidity
14129
2 (1–3)
2 (1–3)
2 (1–3)
< 0.001*
Prepregnancy BMI (kg/m²)
13954
27.2 (23.4–32.2)
26.1 (22.8–30.9)
29.6 (25.4–35)
< 0.001*
Prepregnancy weight (kg)
13977
74 (63.9–89)
72 (62–85)
81 (69–96)
< 0.001*
Maternal height (cm)
14114
165 (160–170)
165 (160–170)
165 (161–170)
0.122
Family history of DM (1st degree relatives)
12851
4546 (35.4%)
2896 (32.5%)
1650 (42.0%)
< 0.001*
Smoking
13192
1029 (7.8%)
708 (7.7%)
321 (8.0%)
0.527
History of GDM
12784
2375 (18.6%)
1280 (14.4%)
1095 (28.3%)
< 0.001*
HbA1c at diagnosis (%)
12822
5.2 (5–5.4)
5.1 (4.9–5.4)
5.3 (5.1–5.5)
< 0.001*
HbA1c at diagnosis (mmol/mol)
12822
33 (31–36)
32 (30–36)
34 (32–37)
< 0.001*
GA at diagnosis (weeks)
14157
26 (25–28)
27 (25–29)
26 (23–28)
< 0.001*
75 g oGTT (mmol/l)
14119
5.3 (5.1–5.6)
5.2 (4.9–5.5)
5.5 (5.2–5.9)
< 0.001*
12557
9.8 (8.3–10.7)
9.6 (8.2–10.6)
10.1 (8.7–11.1)
< 0.001*
12348
7.4 (6.3–8.6)
7.3 (6.3–8.6)
7.5 (6.4–8.7)
< 0.001*
75 g oGTT (mg/dl)
14119
95 (92–101)
94 (89–99)
99 (94–106)
< 0.001*
12557
176 (150–193)
173 (147–190)
181 (156–200)
< 0.001*
12348
133 (113–155)
132 (113–155)
135 (115–156)
< 0.001*
Multiples
13150
288 (2.2%)
213 (2.3%)
75 (1.9%)
0.083
Fetal sex male
9221
4932 (53.5%)
3306 (52.9%)
1626 (54.8%)
0.094
No or little language barrier
14157
12392 (87.5%)
8613 (87.5%)
3779 (87.5%)
0.935
Induction of labour
8167
2587 (31.7%)
1587 (28.6%)
1000 (38.1%)
< 0.001*
Mode of delivery
9332
< 0.001*
5448 (58.4%)
3847 (60.6%)
1601 (53.6%)
437 (4.7%)
309 (4.9%)
128 (4.3%)
3447 (36.9%)
2187 (34.5%)
1260 (42.2%)
Shoulder dystocia
782
41 (5.2%)
29 (5.2%)
12 (5.4%)
0.861
GA at delivery (weeks)
9661
39 (38–40)
40 (38–40)
39 (38–40.0)
< 0.001*
Preterm delivery (< 37weeks)
9725
684 (7%)
494 (7.5%)
190 (6.1%)
0.012*
Length newborn (cm)
9168
52 (50–54)
52 (50–54)
52 (50–54)
< 0.001*
Weight newborn (g)
9358
3450 (3110–3760)
3420 (3082–3730)
3500 (3170–3820)
< 0.001*
Macrosomia (> 4 kg)
9358
1082 (11.6%)
662 (10.4%)
420 (13.9%)
< 0.001*
APGAR 5 min < 5
5791
19 (0.3%)
14 (0.3%)
5 (0.3%)
0.808
pH umbilical artery < 7.1
5357
128 (2.4%)
86 (2.3%)
42 (2.6%)
0.560
Admission to NICU
8718
886 (10.2%)
577 (9.7%)
309 (11.1%)
0.58
Fetal death
8739
6 (0.1%)
4 (0.1%)
2 (0.1%)
1
Fetal hypoglycaemia
842
336 (43.5%)
237 (40.2%)
129 (51.2%)
< 0.001*
More patients with iGDM had a family history of diabetes and had had GDM in a previous
pregnancy. No differences were found in terms of smoking status, height, multiple
pregnancies, fetal sex ratio, or language barriers.
At the time of GDM diagnosis, all values of the 75 g oGTT (fasting glucose: 5.5 vs.
5.2 mmol/l [99 vs. 94 mg/dl]; 1 h value 10.1 vs. 9.6 mmol/l [181 vs. 173 mg/dl]; 2 h
value 7.5 vs. 7.3 mmol/l [135 vs. 132 mg/dl] and HbA1c values [5.3 vs. 5.1%] and 34
vs. 32 mmol/mol) were significantly higher in iGDM patients than in dGDM (p < 0.001*).
Women with insulin had more inductions of labour (38.1% vs. 28.6%), had more caesarean
sections (42.2% vs. 34.5%), fewer preterm deliveries (6.1% vs. 7.5%), more macrosomia
(13.9% vs. 10.4%), and more children with postnatal hypoglycaemia (51.2% vs. 40.2%).
The univariate analysis confirmed the significant influence of the discriminating
parameters for insulin treatment (Online-Supplement Table S1 ).
First, the ROC AUCs were determined for all continuous variables ([Table 2 ]). The best discriminatory properties were found for the fasting glucose value (AUC 0.680),
followed by BMI (AUC 0.640) and HbA1c in mmol/mol at diagnosis (AUC 0.606).
Table 2
Area under the receiver operating curve (AUC) for insulin therapy during pregnancy
(descending order of the nine continuous variables of the model).
Variables
AUC
CI (95%)
p
Presentation of the values = 1-AUC for a negative association between gestational
age (GA) and insulin treatment (AUC 0.411; CI 0.399–0.423)
75 g oGTT fasting glucose (mmol/l)
0.680
0.669–0.691
< 0.01
Prepregnancy BMI (kg/m²)
0.640
0.628–0.651
< 0.01
HbA1c at diagnosis (mmol/mol)
0.606
0.594–0.618
< 0.01
GA at diagnosis (weeks)†
0.589
0.601–0.577
< 0.01
1-hour glucose (mmol/l)
0.581
0.569–0.593
< 0.01
Gravidity
0.564
0.552–0.576
< 0.01
Parity
0.562
0.550–0.574
< 0.01
Maternal age at delivery (years)
0.531
0.519–0.542
< 0.01
2-hour glucose (mmol/l)
0.530
0.518–0.542
< 0.01
Predictive accuracy of the different prediction models
By combining different variables in the four models, the AUC and thus the prediction
accuracy of insulin treatment could be further increased. The highest AUC (0.740;
CI 0.729–0.752; < 0.01) and the highest NPV 82.8% were achieved by including all 11
variables (model 1). In model 3 (“Diab”), the AUC was 0.735 (CI 0.724–0.747; p < 0.01;
for model 2 (“Gyn”), the AUC was 0.732 (CI 0.721–0.744; p < 0.01) and for model 4,
the AUC was 0.719 (CI 0.708–0.731; p < 0.01). PPV and NPV were almost the same for
all four models at ~50% and ~82% (see [Table 3 ]).
Table 3
Area under the receiver operating curve (AUC) for insulin therapy during pregnancy.
Variable
AUC
CI (95%)
p
PPV
NPV
Model 1–all 11 variables
Model 2–8 variables (maternal age at delivery, BMI, GA at diagnosis, gravidity, parity,
fasting glucose, 1-hour and 2-hour glucose)
Model 3–7 variables (maternal age at delivery, BMI, GA at diagnosis, fasting glucose
1-hour and 2-hour glucose, HbA1c)
Model 4–5 variables (maternal age at delivery, BMI, GA at diagnosis, fasting glucose,
HbA1c)
Model 1 (“All Combined”)
0.740
0.729–0.752
< 0.01
50.1%
82.8%
Model 2 (“Gyn”)
0.732
0.721–0.744
< 0.01
51.1%
81.7%
Model 3 (“Diab”)
0.735
0.724–0.747
< 0.01
47.3%
82.6%
Model 4 (“Short”)
0.719
0.708–0.731
< 0.01
47.3%
81.1%
Validation of the different prediction models in an independent group
To validate the four models, they were tested using the GestDiab cohort from the following
year, 2021 (n = 6651), with a comparable insulin treatment rate of 32.6% (n = 2166).
The determined prediction probabilities were confirmed and showed a clear correlation
(see Online-Supplement Table S2 ).
Risk calculator
The risk calculator can be found under the following link (https://tiny.uk-j.de/gdm-insulin ). Depending on the data entered, the optimal model for the calculation is automatically
selected in the background and the individual probability for an insulin treatment
is then given as a percentage. With the minimum of the five clinical data for model
4, the individual risk for the patient can already be calculated (see [Fig. 2 ]). The conversion of the HbA1c and glucose values into the corresponding SI units
(mg/dl into mmol/l or HbA1c % into mmol/mol) is done automatically.
Fig. 2
Screenshot of the risk calculator with example (only German Version available).
Discussion
Summary of results
Based on data from the GestDiab pregnancy registry for women with GDM, we were able
to create individual prediction models for the need for insulin treatment. This means
that a publicly accessible risk calculator is now available for the first time for
counselling by and for women with GDM (see [Fig. 2 ]) and can be used with just five clinical parameters (maternal age at the estimated
date of delivery, pre-pregnancy BMI, gestational age at GDM diagnosis, fasting glucose
and HbA1c).
Regardless of the number of variables included, only a positive predictive value of
50% and a negative predictive value of 80% could be achieved in the validation cohort
of 2021. The present models only include patient characteristics that can be recorded
at the time of diagnosis. Other factors influencing the indication for insulin therapy
(e.g. ultrasound-based data on fetal growth) are not included in the model. These
include patient-related influences such as compliance with and motivation for conservative
therapeutic measures (dietary changes and exercise) that influence the need for insulin
therapy, as well as practice-specific differences in management. For example, the
insulinisation rate of the practices participating in GestDiab is 31% on average,
but the range is from 4 to 100%. Even when considering only the practices with more
than 10 treatment cases per year, the range is between 4% and 68%. In the analysis
of the association between practice-specific insulinisation rates and the probability
of individual insulin treatment, an AUC of 0.657 (CI 0.648–0.667, p < 0.01) was found,
which was significant (data not shown). After fasting glucose (AUC 0.680), the practice-specific
insulinisation rate thus showed the second-best correlation with the prediction model.
The question remains as to whether this is due to a selected high-risk collective
in the respective practice or to their treatment strategies.
It is likely that a standardised approach to insulin prescription would improve the
model’s predictive power. Conversely, calculating the individual risk of the patient
can potentially harmonise insulin prescription.
Another important factor influencing insulin sensitivity is the gestational weight
gain of the pregnant woman [13 ]. In the group with false positive test (model 4, “short”), i.e. patients who did
not receive insulin treatment despite the expected risk, the lowest weight gain of
only 2.3 kg on median was observed. This confirms that with good compliance, the personal
risk for insulin therapy can be reduced. This is also important information for counselling
those affected. It is noteworthy that in the group that did not require insulin therapy
despite an increased risk for it, as calculated, a lower increase in HbA1c was observed
over the further course of pregnancy compared to all women without an increased risk
(correct and false negative). This confirms that this group had good glycaemic control
even without insulin therapy, despite an increased risk. It is also encouraging to
note that a documented language barrier did not affect insulin treatment (Online-Supplement
Table S3 ). This suggests that the possibility of under- or overprovision due to a lack of
communication is ruled out.
Comparison with the literature
As already described in the literature, we were able to confirm the typical risk factors
for insulin treatment during pregnancy: maternal BMI, fasting glucose, 2-h glucose,
HbA1c, history of GDM and family history of diabetes [12 ]
[14 ]
[15 ]
[16 ]. Some studies have also identified fetal abdominal circumference as a predictor
of insulin requirement in pregnancies affected by GDM [12 ]
[14 ].
When validating our models using data from the GestDiab registry from 2021, we were
able to achieve an AUC of 0.71 using model 1 by using all available variables. This
is in line with the results of Rostin et al. on the predictive probability of insulin
treatment with an AUC of 0.77 (95% CI 0.75–0.80; 0.75 in internal validation), which,
however, was based on monocentric data [17 ]. Their optimal cutoff value at a score value of 9 had a 72% sensitivity, a 69% specificity
and a NPV of 90%. Additionally, the large Korean study by Lee et al. (2023), which
included 417210 women, reported a similar AUC of 0.783 (95% CI: 0.766–0.799) [18 ].
Strengths and limitations
A particular strength of this work is the large amount of data from the care sector
throughout Germany, which allows for a high level of representativeness. Nevertheless,
the register only reflects a fraction of patients with GDM in Germany. Therefore,
this model might not be applicable to other cohorts that are not included in the GestDiab
registry due to language barriers or other practice-specific decisions. A further
limitation of the study is the lack of foetal ultrasound parameters (abdominal circumference,
estimated weight), which are known to also influence the indication for insulin treatment.
However, these are not recorded in the registry and therefore cannot be included.
HbA1c is not recommended as a diagnostic parameter for GDM in the German guidelines
[6 ]. However, the GestDiab registry shows that HbA1c values were available for 12822
out of 14157 women (approximately 90%). This is most likely because it is routinely
used by DSPs as part of their standard practice.
So far, this study relies solely on traditional statistical models. Incorporating
machine learning could improve predictive accuracy by capturing complex, non-linear
relationships between variables. This approach is being considered for future projects,
particularly as the GestDiab registry continues to grow annually. However, Eleftheriades
et al. employed a machine learning algorithm—specifically, the Classification and
Regression Tree (CART)—to develop a predictive model for insulin therapy. Yet, the
predictive value could not be improved, even with the use of machine learning and
the inclusion of fetal ultrasound parameters (AUC 0.743; 95% CI: 0.70–0.79) [12 ]. Instead of a cut-off value, we provide a tool that can be used to calculate the
individual probability of receiving insulin as a percentage, depending on the risk
factors present.
User recommendations
Nevertheless, the calculator must be used with caution, as patients with a calculated
low risk may tend to trivialise the problem of GDM. Since insulin resistance increases
during pregnancy due to hormonal changes and thus the risk of hyperglycaemia, this
fact must be included in the educational process. The individually calculated risk
does not replace a medical assessment and repeated assessments during the pregnancy.
Insulin treatment may become necessary during the course of the pregnancy, even at
low risk, due to various effects.
Conclusion
The prediction of insulin therapy requirement based on available and established risk
factors represents a potentially valuable clinical decision support tool; however,
its reliability should be interpreted with caution, given the influence of numerous
additional individual-level determinants that are not captured by the model (PPV 50%).
An accessible online tool enables the estimation of individual insulin therapy risk
as a percentage for patients diagnosed with GDM, based on the entry of a limited set
of clinical parameters. Evidence indicates that the actual necessity for insulin can
often be mitigated through adherence to lifestyle interventions. In this context,
risk communication may serve as a motivational element within patient counselling.
Personalised education regarding individual risk profiles can support patients and
healthcare providers in the shared decision-making process, facilitating tailored
therapeutic strategies aimed at enhancing adherence and potentially reducing insulin
initiation rates.
Supplementary Material
Table S1 Univariate logistic regression analysis to predict the need for insulin therapy in
pregnancy in the case of gestational diabetes mellitus at the time of diagnosis.
Table S2 Area under the receiver-operating curve (AUC) for prediction of insulin therapy during
pregnancy using the 4 models that combine different variables with PPV and NPV, based
on the 2021 control cohort of the GestDiab registry.
Table S3 Representation of possible factors influencing the individual probability of insulinisation
during pregnancy, calculated using model 4.