Identification of a Woman at Low Risk for Gestational Diabetes Who May Not Need an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test

 

Criteria to identify a woman at low risk for gestational diabetes - all of the following:

(1) age < 25 years

(2) ethnic group at low risk for diabetes (NOT African-American, Asian American, Hispanic, Native American, Pacific Islander)

(3) normal weight prior to onset of pregnancy

(4) no first degree relatives with diabetes

(5) no personal history of abnormal glucose tolerance (or insulin resistance)

(6) no history of poor obstetric outcome (that could be due to gestational diabetes)

 

where:

• There are many reasons for a poor obstetric outcome that have no relation to gestational diabetes.

 

If the woman is low risk for gestational diabetes, then screening for gestational diabetes with an oral glucose tolerance test has a very low yield.