the predictive power of the mother’s neck circumference in the early diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus

Background: gestational diabetes mellitus (gdm) is a risk factor for the health of both the mother and fetus, responsible for a significant number of maternal, perinatal, and neonatal complications. timely diagnosis and effective treatment can reduce the burden of the disease on the health of women and their infants during and after pregnancy. objectives: the present study aimed to examine the predictive power of the mother’s neck circumference in the early diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus. methods: this prospective cohort study was conducted on 782 pregnant women with a gestational age of 16 weeks who visited health centers in jiroft between 2020 and 2021. neck circumference was measured in the 16th week of pregnancy. gestational diabetes mellitus was diagnosed using an oral glucose tolerance test (ogtt) with 75 grams of glucose at 24-28 weeks of pregnancy. participants were selected using convenience sampling, and data were collected through interviews with the participants. results: among the 782 pregnant women, 179 were diagnosed with gdm, while 603 did not have gdm. the best cut-off point for neck size was determined to be 35.45 cm using the roc curve. for the neck circumference test, sensitivity was 71.5%, specificity was 60%, positive predictive value was 34.8%, and negative predictive value was 87.7%. conclusions: the findings indicate that a neck circumference greater than 35.45 cm in early pregnancy (16 weeks) can be considered a new diagnostic test for gdm. early identification of women at risk should prompt necessary measures to reduce the complications associated with gestational diabetes mellitus.