{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]],"date-time":"2026-09-24T05:01:43Z","timestamp":1790226103136,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":23,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]],"date-time":"2026-09-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1790208000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Endocrinol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) requires women to attend follow-up visits and complete repeated self-management tasks during pregnancy. These tasks include blood glucose monitoring, meal planning, physical activity, health education and medication when needed. They may create a time-related burden in daily life. However, little is known about women\u2019s experiences of healthcare-related time toxicity during GDM management. This study aimed to explore women\u2019s experiences of healthcare-related time toxicity and the perceived factors shaping these experiences.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A qualitative descriptive study was conducted in the obstetric outpatient clinics of a tertiary teaching hospital in Henan Province, central China. Women with GDM were recruited using purposive sampling. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 participants. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using qualitative content analysis.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Four themes and 13 subthemes were generated from the interview data: (1) GDM added a new timetable to pregnancy; (2) hospital follow-up made time costs visible; (3) work and family roles compressed time for GDM management; and (4) women needed support that reduced time and decision burden.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Healthcare-related time toxicity in GDM was experienced as both visible hospital time and hidden daily self-management work. Women\u2019s time burden was not produced by GDM tasks alone. The organisation of services, family caregiving, work schedule, and outpatient processes also play a role. There is a need for the nurse, midwife, and\/or diabetes educator to be specific and user-friendly in their support, such as providing clear examples of diet, review of blood glucose levels online in a timely fashion, and improved coordination of prenatal, nutrition and blood glucose-related appointments. These changes may decrease unnecessary traveling, waiting, and redundant decision-making, and assist women to incorporate the management of GDM into their daily lives more successfully.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fendo.2026.1947845","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]],"date-time":"2026-09-24T04:35:43Z","timestamp":1790224543000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Experiences and perceived determinants of healthcare-related time toxicity among women with gestational diabetes mellitus: a qualitative study"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Jingru","family":"Liu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, and College of Clinical Medicine of Henan University of Science and Technology","place":["Luoyang, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wei","family":"Xu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, and College of Clinical Medicine of Henan University of Science and Technology","place":["Luoyang, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jing","family":"Ma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Nursing, Henan University of Science and Technology","place":["Luoyang, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xueying","family":"Shang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, and College of Clinical Medicine of Henan University of Science and Technology","place":["Luoyang, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mengmeng","family":"Jia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics, The First Affiliated Hospital, and College of Clinical Medicine of Henan University of Science and Technology","place":["Luoyang, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yanli","family":"You","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nursing, The First Affiliated Hospital, and College of Clinical Medicine of Henan University of Science and Technology","place":["Luoyang, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.diabres.2021.109050","article-title":"IDF Diabetes Atlas: estimation of global and regional gestational diabetes mellitus prevalence for 2021 by International Association of Diabetes in Pregnancy Study 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