Impact of adopting the 2013 World Health Organization criteria for diagnosis of gestational diabetes in a multi-ethnic Asian cohort: a prospective study

Claudia Chi, See Ling Loy, Shiao-Yng Chan, Cherie Choong, Shirong Cai, Shu E Soh, Kok Hian Tan, Fabian Yap, Peter D Gluckman, Keith M Godfrey, Lynette Pei-Chi Shek, Jerry Kok Yen Chan, Michael S Kramer, Yap-Seng Chong, Claudia Chi, See Ling Loy, Shiao-Yng Chan, Cherie Choong, Shirong Cai, Shu E Soh, Kok Hian Tan, Fabian Yap, Peter D Gluckman, Keith M Godfrey, Lynette Pei-Chi Shek, Jerry Kok Yen Chan, Michael S Kramer, Yap-Seng Chong

Abstract

Background: We assessed the impact of adopting the 2013 World Health Organization (WHO) diagnostic criteria on the rates of gestational diabetes (GDM), pregnancy outcomes and identification of women at future risk of type 2 diabetes.

Methods: During a period when the 1999 WHO GDM criteria were in effect, pregnant women were universally screened using a one-step 75 g 2-h oral glucose tolerance test at 26-28 weeks' gestation. Women were retrospectively reclassified according to the 2013 criteria, but without the 1-h glycaemia measurement. Pregnancy outcomes and glucose tolerance at 4-5 years post-delivery were compared for women with GDM classified by the 1999 criteria alone, GDM by the 2013 criteria alone, GDM by both criteria and without GDM by both sets of criteria.

Results: Of 1092 women, 204 (18.7%) and 142 (13.0%) were diagnosed with GDM by the 1999 and 2013 WHO criteria, respectively, with 27 (2.5%) reclassified to GDM and 89 (8.2%) reclassified to non-GDM when shifting from the 1999 to 2013 criteria. Compared to women without GDM by both criteria, cases reclassified to GDM by the 2013 criteria had an increased risk of neonatal jaundice requiring phototherapy (relative risk (RR) = 2.78, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.32, 5.86); despite receiving treatment for GDM, cases reclassified to non-GDM by the 2013 criteria had higher risks of prematurity (RR = 2.17, 95% CI 1.12, 4.24), neonatal hypoglycaemia (RR = 3.42, 95% CI 1.04, 11.29), jaundice requiring phototherapy (RR = 1.71, 95% CI 1.04, 2.82), and a higher rate of abnormal glucose tolerance at 4-5 years post-delivery (RR = 3.39, 95% CI 2.30, 5.00).

Conclusions: Adoption of the 2013 WHO criteria, without the 1-h glycaemia measurement, reduced the GDM rate. Lowering the fasting glucose threshold identified women who might benefit from treatment, but raising the 2-h threshold may fail to identify women at increased risk of adverse pregnancy and future metabolic outcomes.

Trial registration: NCT01174875 . Registered 1 July 2010 (retrospectively registered).

Keywords: Gestational diabetes mellitus; Glucose tolerance; Pregnancy outcomes; Type 2 diabetes; World Health Organization.

Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Ethnical approval was obtained from the Domain Specific Review Board of Singapore National Healthcare Group (reference D/09/021) and the Centralised Institute Review Board of SingHealth (reference 2009/280/D). The study is conducted according to the guidelines laid down in the Declaration of Helsinki. Informed written consent was obtained from all participants.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

FY, PDG, KMG and YSC have received reimbursement for speaking at conferences sponsored by companies selling nutritional products. SYC, PDG, KMG and YSC are part of an academic consortium that has received research funding from Abbott Nutrition, Nestlé and Danone. Other authors declared that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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