January - March 2013, Volume 9, Issue 1

Manafi M, Khadem-Ansari MH

Gestational Diabetes Mellitus in Iranian Women: a rising rate

Acta Endo (Buc) 2013, 9 (1): 71-78
doi: 10.4183/aeb.2013.71

Context: rising incidence of Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) has been reported in the recent years and it has become an important public health problem, mainly among women aged 35-39 years. Objectives: Frequency of GDM in the females who are living in the northwest of Iran was evaluated. Subjects and Methods: two hundred and fifty pregnant women at 24-28th weeks of gestation were screened using 50 g oral glucose challenge test (OGCT), and the subjects with blood sugar levels equal or greater than 130 mg/dl were referred to diagnostic 100 g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). GDM was diagnosed according to Carpenter and Coustan criteria. Results: eighty six women (34.4%) with positive result of screening test were selected for subsequent OGTT with 100 g oral glucose. GDM was diagnosed in twenty four women (9.6 %) with at least 2 abnormal values. Frequency of GDM in the older subjects or the subjects with high pre-pregnancy or 24-28th weeks’ body mass index(BMI) were significantly higher than younger pregnant females or the subjects with low BMI. Conclusion: Prevalence of GDM in the current study was 11.9%, which is higher than earlier reports and implicates that the prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus has markedly been increasing in Iran and associated with maternal age and body mass index.

Keywords: Gestation Diabetes Mellitus, Oral Glucose Challenge Test, Oral Glucose Tolerance Test, Prevalence, body mass index, maternal age.

Correspondence: Majid Manafi MD, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Clinical Biochemistry and Nutrition, 14th km Nazloo HW, Urmia, 14147, Islamic Republic of Iran, E-mail: manafi.majid@gmail.com