The after breakfast 50-g, 1-hour glucose challenge test in urban Mexican pregnant women: its sensitivity and specificity evaluated by three diagnostic criteria for gestational diabetes mellitus.
BACKGROUND
To study the sensitivity and specificity of the 50-g, 1-hour gestational glucose challenge test performed 1 to 2 hours after a non-standardized home breakfast in urban Mexican women by using three different gestational diabetes mellitus diagnostic criteria.


METHODS
Four hundred and forty-five consecutive women of 24-28 weeks gestation were studied. The glucose challenge test was performed in the fed state and a week later a fasting 100-g, 3-hours oral glucose tolerance test was carried out in all of them. Duplicate serum glucose concentrations were determined by a glucose-oxidase method. Sensitivity and specificity were calculated using three different diagnostic criteria for gestational diabetes mellitus.


RESULTS
The glucose challenge test performed as indicated, with a cutoff of 7.8 mmol/L, had 88-89% sensitivity and 85-87% specificity when using as diagnostic criteria those proposed by the National Diabetes Data Group and by Carpenter & Coustan; by using Sacks et al. criteria, the values were 82% and 88%, respectively. Considering only pregnant women > or = 25 years of age, the sensitivity increased to 92% with the National Diabetes Data Group criteria. Pregnant women < 25 years of age had significantly lower blood glucose values than those with age > or = 25 years during the glucose tolerance test.


CONCLUSIONS
For the general group the sensitivity of the glucose challenge test performed 1 to 2 hours after breakfast was similar, based on the National Diabetes Data Group and the Carpenter & Coustan's diagnostic criteria for gestational diabetes mellitus. However, when pregnant women > or = 25 years of age were considered, the use of the former criteria yielded a slightly better sensitivity.
Espinosa de los Monteros
A
A
Department of Endocrinology, Instituto Nacional de Perinatologia, Lomas Virreyes, Mexico City, Mexico.
Parra
A
A
Hidalgo
R
R
Zambrana
M
M
D000328:Adult; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D016640:Diabetes, Gestational / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005951:Glucose Tolerance Test / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008800:Mexico / Q000453:epidemiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014505:Urban Population
D001786:Blood Glucose