title: The increasing prevalence of diabetes in pregnancy.
abstract: The authors review studies published in the past 10 years that examine the prevalence and trends in the prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). The prevalence of GDM in a population is reflective of the prevalence of type 2 diabetes within that population. In low-risk populations, such as those found in Sweden, the prevalence in population-based studies is lower than 2% even when universal testing is offered, whereas studies in high-risk populations, such as the Native American Cree, Northern Californian Hispanics, and Northern Californian Asians, reported prevalence rates ranging from 4.9% to 12.8%. Prevalence rates for GDM obtained from hospital-based studies similarly reflect the risk of type 2 diabetes in a population with a single hospital-based study in Australia reporting prevalences ranging from 3.0% in Anglo-Celtic women to 17.0% in Indian women. Finally, of the eight studies published that report on trends in the prevalence of GDM, six report an increase in the prevalence of GDM across most racial/ethnic groups studied. In summary, diabetes during pregnancy is a common and increasing complication of pregnancy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, Bioinformatics and Epidemiology, Medical University of South Carolina, 135 Cannon Street, Suite 303, Charleston, SC 29425, USA. huntke@musc.edu
authors.forename: Kelly J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Hunt
authors.forename: Kelly L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Schuller
mesh_terms: D016640:Diabetes, Gestational / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D015995:Prevalence