Comparison of the world health organization and the International association of diabetes and pregnancy study groups criteria in diagnosing gestational diabetes mellitus in South Indians

AIM: We aimed to compare the International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups (IADPSG) and the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria to diagnose gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in Chennai, India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We reviewed the retrospective data of 1351 pregnant women who underwent screening for GDM at four selected diabetes centers at Chennai (three private and one government). All women underwent an oral glucose tolerance test using 75g glucose load and fasting, 1-h, and 2-h samples were collected. The IADPSG and WHO criteria were compared for diagnosis of GDM. RESULTS: A total of 839 women had GDM by either the IADPSG or the WHO criteria, of whom the IADPSG criteria identified 699 and the WHO criteria also identified 699 women as having GDM. However, only 599/839 women (66.6%) were identified by both criteria. Thus, 140/839 women (16.7%) were missed by both the IADPSG and the WHO criteria. 687/699 (98.2%) of the women with GDM were identified by the WHO criteria. In contrast, each value of IADPSG criteria i.e., fasting, 1 h, and 2 h identified only 12.5%, 14%, and 22%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: A single WHO cut-point of 2 h > 140 mg/dl appears to be suitable for large-scale screening for GDM in India and other developing countries.