Epidemiology of gestational diabetes in Scandiano health district 12 (USL 12)

AIM OF THE STUDY: To evaluate retrospectively the results of a screening for gestational diabetes (GD) carried out during the period 1981-91 on pregnant women with one or more risk factors for diabetes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was performed between the 14th and 18th weeks of pregnancy in 423 women. Those who were positive for gestational diabetes were successively treated with diet alone or together with insulin to obtain strict metabolic control. RESULTS: Positivity for GD varied between 2.2% and 2.4% in all women studied and between 20.8% and 28.8% in pregnant women with two or more risk factors. Pathological deliveries (caesarian and dystocial) and macrosomias proved more frequent, though not significantly so, in pregnant women positive for GD compared to those who proved negative. The maternal 5 years follow up of women with previous GD showed 10% positivity for IGT and 14% positivity for diabetes. CONCLUSION: Intensive treatment of a pregnant woman with GD, allows the achievement of results similar, in terms of maternal and fetal health, to those observable in non-diabetic pregnant women. GD moreover seems highly forseeable for the appearance of diabetes mellitus and it is therefore advisable, after pregnancy, to perform a long-term follow-up for preventive purposes.