Abstract

Glucose intolerance during pregnancy predisposes the offspring for increased risk of developing glucose intolerance in the future. This vicious cycle is likely to influence and perpetuate the incidence and prevalence of glucose intolerance in any population. No data is available about the prevalence of glucose intolerance during pregnancy in our district, Andhra Pradesh, India and hence a study was undertaken on this aspect. Diagnosis is based on a 2hr 75 gm OGTT. GDM is diagnosed if either Fasting plasma glucose is more than 126 mg/dl or 2 hr plasma glucose more than 140 mg/dl. This study was performed in the antenatal clinics of Government General Hospital, Rangaraya Medical College, Kakinada and CHC Pedapudi of Andhra Pradesh, India. All the pregnant women attending the antenatal clinic for their regular antenatal check-up were screened for gestational diabetes. As a pregnant woman checks into the antenatal clinic, she was advised to get her random blood sugar tested. All the women who were found to have either an RBS near to the upper cut off limit for the normal or any of the classical risk factors for developing gestational diabetes and were advised to get their FBS and PPBS checked were advised to undergo 2hr 75 gm OGTT. Diagnosis was based on the WHO criteria for gestational diabetes mellitus. Among the 600 pregnant women who had got their random blood sugar checked, 278 [46.3%] women were found to have either an RBS near to the upper cut off limit for the normal or any of the classical risk factors for developing gestational diabetes and were advised to get their FBS and PPBS checked. And upon 2hr 75 gm OGTT, 38 [16.8%] women were diagnosed as GDM, taking both FBS ≥126 mg/dl and/or 2 hr PPBS ≥140 mg/dl as cut-off values. Taking only 2 hour blood sugar for analysis, 35 [15.4 %] had a value ≥140 mg/dl. This study has documented the increased prevalence of GDM in our population necessitating universal screening for glucose intolerance in pregnancy. Using 2 hr plasma glucose 140 mg/dl or above as a one step procedure is simple and economical, particularly for the countries ethnically more prone to high prevalence of diabetes

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