title: A standardised breakfast tolerance test in pregnancy: comparison with the 75 g oral glucose tolerance test in unselected mothers and in those with impaired glucose tolerance.
abstract: There is still disagreement concerning the optimal procedure for the diagnosis of milder degrees of hyperglycaemia in pregnancy. We have compared the results of a 75 g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and a standardised breakfast test performed one week apart in 102 non-diabetic women with a singleton pregnancy. There was poor correlation between the two tests (r = 0.15) at two hours, and neither test was predictive of adverse maternal or fetal outcome. One hundred and four patients with impaired glucose tolerance, diagnosed at 30 weeks' gestation by 75 g OGTT, subsequently had a breakfast and lunch meal profile. There was no significant correlation between the two-hour OGTT value and either the two hour post-breakfast value (r = 0.35) or the maximum profile value (r = 0.33). Using the WHO diagnostic criterion of > 8 mmol/l for the OGTT and a maximum glucose concentration > 6.8 mmol/l for the meal profile, there was no relationship between an abnormal result in either test and pregnancy outcome. In our obstetric environment, the 75 g OGTT, a standardised breakfast test, and a structured meal profile, all failed to provide a useful indication of pregnancy outcome in mothers not already known to have diabetes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Queen's University of Belfast, Northern Ireland.
authors.forename: R N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McManus
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dobbs
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Hadden
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D005502:Food; D018149:Glucose Intolerance / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005951:Glucose Tolerance Test; D006801:Humans; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D011254:Pregnancy in Diabetics / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*
chemical_list: D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates