Frequency of gestational diabetes mellitus and impaired glucose tolerance in urban Sudanese pregnant women in the third trimester

ABSTRACT

Impaired glucose tolerance may be defined as intermediate group of individuals whose carbohydrate metabolism does not constitute diabetes but is not entirely normal. It carries a higher risk of developing microvascular disease and a significant percentage of these patients eventually become diabetics. Of the study was to estimate the frequency of gestational diabetes mellitus [GDM] and impaired glucose tolerance [IGT] in urban Sudanese pregnant women in the third trimester. The study also showed the effect of age and parity on IGT. The study was carried out on hundred pregnant women in the third trimester. The frequency of gestational diabetes was 2% and it was 6% for the IGT incidence whereas, 92% of the pregnant women revealed normal fasting plasma levels. The IGT pregnant women were older than the control pregnant women but, the age difference was not significant [28.7 +/- 5.5 years [mean +/- S.D] vs. 27.3 +/- 4.8 respectively, p>0.05]. Also, the IGT pregnant women were found to have mean parity significantly greater than that of the control group [6.7 +/- 2 [mean +/- S.D.] vs. 3.9 +/- 2.1 respectively, p<0.001]. The frequency of GDM and IGT in Sudanese pregnant women is within the universal estimates and parity is an important risk factor that affects impaired glucose tolerance incidence in pregnancy