Objective: To explore the prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), defined by the previous criteria of the American Diabetes Association (ADA), as well as the criteria suggested by the International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups (IADPSG), in an unselected group of urban Mexican pregnant women and to analyze the frequency of large for gestational age (LGA) newborns in this same group of women with use of both diagnostic criteria.
Methods: A cross-sectional study included 803 consecutive Mexican urban women with a singleton pregnancy, without concomitant diseases and no prior history of GDM, who underwent a 2-step screening protocol for diagnosis of GDM at admission to prenatal care.
Results: The ADA criteria identified 83 women (10.3%) whereas the IADPSG criteria diagnosed 242 women (30.1%) having GDM (P = .0001). Fasting glucose concentrations during the 100-g 3-hour oral glucose tolerance test were abnormal in 116 women (14.4%) and in 160 women (19.9%) on the basis of ADA and IADPSG criteria, respectively (P = .004). The frequency of LGA newborns was 7.4% based on IADPSG criteria and 6.0% based on ADA criteria-no significant difference (P = .64).
Conclusion: With use of the IADPSG criteria, the prevalence of GDM increased almost 3-fold in comparison with that for the ADA criteria. Nevertheless, no significant difference was found in the prevalence of LGA newborns.