Screening for gestational diabetes mellitus in adolescent pregnancies.
OBJECTIVE
Our purpose was to determine the incidence of gestational diabetes mellitus in an adolescent population and to determine the cost of screening.


METHODS
A retrospective review of 509 adolescent pregnancies was performed. The incidence of gestational diabetes mellitus was determined and the cost of screening analyzed.


RESULTS
Five hundred nine adolescent pregnancies were screened for gestational diabetes mellitus with a 1-hour, 50 gm oral glucose challenge test. Twenty-three of the screens (4.5%) had positive results at a plasma glucose level of > or = 140 mg/dl. Three-hour 100 gm oral glucose tolerance tests were performed on screen-positive women, six of whom were diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus, for an incidence of 1.18%. The cost per case diagnosed was $2733.


CONCLUSIONS
The incidence of gestational diabetes mellitus in an adolescent population is low. The cost of universal screening may be prohibitive in this population. Large prospective studies are needed to better analyze outcome data and efficacy of screening in adolescent pregnancies.
Lemen
P M
PM
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, USA.
Wigton
T R
TR
Miller-McCarthey
A J
AJ
Cruikshank
D P
DP
D000293:Adolescent; D016640:Diabetes, Gestational / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D005951:Glucose Tolerance Test; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000191:economics; D011247:Pregnancy; D011253:Pregnancy in Adolescence / Q000502:physiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies