The role of serum fasting plasma glucose in gestational diabetes screening

Objective We aimed to investigate the performance of fasting plasma glucose (FPG) level, checked between 24 and 28 weeks of gestation, for the diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in order to find out whether FPG level would help to identify potential GDM cases or not in pregnancies which do or do not undergo oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). Methods This study was performed retrospectively in a tertiary center by accessing the records of 2950 patients who underwent 75-g OGTT in between 24 and 28 weeks of gestation. GDM diagnosis was established according to the one-step screening test results. In the patients diagnosed with GDM, the most successful threshold value for the diagnosis calculated statistically was determined for FPG. The specificity and sensitivity values were calculated for FPG. Results After applying the exclusion criteria, 1736 of 2043 pregnant women were normal and 307 (15%) of them were diagnosed with GDM. The mean age was higher in the pregnant women with GDM than the healthy pregnant women when they were compared according to the demographic characteristics (28.6±4.3 vs. 26.2±4.1, p 88 mg/dl in pregnant women who do not want to undergo OGTT, they should be informed in detail about both OGTT and GDM and its potential complications. Thus, the number of GDM cases without diagnosis and its potential complications would decrease.