Diagnostic Value of Fasting Plasma Glucose in Screening of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus

Today, although screening tests for gestational diabetes mellitus (gdm) are available, they are time-consuming and expensive; hence performing tests that are cheaper but have higher sensitivity and specificity seems necessary. the aim of this study was to determine a cut off point of fasting plasma glucose (fpg) for screening gdm.materials and methods: in this clinical trial, 200 pregnant women aged > = 25 years referring to a perinatal clinic were selected inclusion criteria required having one of the following risk factors: historyof recurrent abortion, gdm, pre-eclampsia, macrosomia, still birth, or diabetes mellitus(dm) in first degree family or pre gestational body massindex > = 25kg/m2. all participants underwent a 50 g glucose challenge test (gct) between the 24th and 28th gestational week. if 'l-hour plasma glucose was over 130 mgldl, a 3-hour 100g oral glucosetolerance test (ogit) was recommended. the diagnosis of gdm was made based on ada recommendations.results: of 200 participants, 65 women had positive gct, of which 58 (response rate 89%) were referred for 100g ogit and 20 (10%) were diagnosed with gdm. the under curve area for fpg of 0.85 and the fpg level of 91.5 mgldl, showed highest sensitivity -80%, and specificity -92%, respectively in the diagnosis of gdm.significant difference was observed between the gdm and normal groups for mean age, gravidity, parity and bmi (p<0.05).conclusion: fasting plasma glucose (fpg) > 91.5 mgldl has good sensitivity and specificity in the screening of gdm; since this is simpler and cheaper than the 50g gct, it is recommended as a screening method for the diagnosis of gdm.