EC Emergency Medicine And Critical Care

Background: Excessive weight gain and obesity are modifiable risk factors for diabetes mellitus (DM) both in gravid and non-gravid persons globally. The prevalence of DM has tripled from 1980 till date and this has negative effects to the fetus and mother.

Aim: The aim was to determine the cut-off weight and the prevalence of DM amongst antenatal clinic (ANC) attendees at booking at the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital (RSUTH).

Methods: This was a cross sectional study of ANC attendees at the RSUTH. A structured questionnaire was used and the information was obtained by self-reporting. Informed consent was obtained from participants and a covering letter for the study was gotten from the HOD of the department after the ethical approval of the study. The cut-off for DM was FBS of 7.8 mmol/L and the reference weight was 90 Kg. The information was analyzed using SPSS version 25.

Result: Two hundred and fifty subjects were recruited for the study. The mean age was 32 years. The modal parity was 1.0. The mean gestational age was 19 weeks. The number of ANC attendees with weight equal to or greater than 90 kg was 53 (21.2%). The number with weight greater than or equal to 90 kg with glycosuria was 25 (10%) of the subjects. Eight (3.2%) of the subjects were known diabetic whereas 30 (12%) had family history of DM.

Conclusion: The study revealed that 3% of ANC attendees with weight equal to or greater than 90 kg were diabetic. In addition, ANC attendees who had family history of DM were 12.3%. There is need for screening for pregnant women with risk factors for DM for early detection and for prevention of adverse effect of DM to the mothers and their unborn babies.

Keywords: Cut-Off; Weight; Prevalence; Diabetes Mellitus; Ante Natal; RSUTH

1. Egan AM. “Epidemiology of Gestational and Pre-gestational Diabetes Mellitus” (2022).
2. Egan A and Dinneen S. “What is Diabetes?” Medicine 47.1 (2014): 679-681.
3. Laribo YM. “Prevalence and Risk Factors of Gestational Diabetes mellitus among women attending care in Hadiyu zone public Hospitals Southern Nation Nationality People Region”. (2022).
4. Lapoila A and Metzger BE. “Gestational Diabetes: A Decade after the HAPO study”. Frontiers in Diabetes 28 (2020): 1-10.
5. Chen LW. “Anahwi edu analysis of gestational diabetes and maternal weight store from pre-pregnancy through post delivery in future development of type 2 diabetes”. Scientific Reports 11.1 (2021): 5021.
6. Eli S., et al. “Prevalence of Diabetes mellitus in pregnancy amongst Antenatal Clinic Attendees at Booking at the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital”. Journal of Advances in Medicine and Medical Research 32.16 (2022): 7-8.
7. International Diabetes Federation. IDF Diabetes Atlas, 9 th edition. Brussels, Belgium (2022).
8. Bellamy L., et al. “Type 2 diabetes mellitus after gestational diabetes. A systematic review and meta-analysis”. Lancet 373.9677 (2009): 1773-1779.
9. Chus SY., et al. “Maternal obesity and risk of gestational diabetes mellitus”. Diabetes Care 30.8 (2007): 2070-2076.
10. Scantos S., et al. “Impact of maternal body mass index and gestational weight gain in pregnancy complications. An individual participant data meta-analysis of European, North American and Australian cohorts”. BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology 126.8 (2019): 984-995.
11. Lin H., et al. “Pregnancy body mass index and weight change on post partum diabetes risk among gestational diabetes in women”. Obesity 22.6 (2014): 1560-1567.
12. Hedderson MM., et al. “Gestational weight gain and risk of gestational diabetes mellitus”. Obstetrics and Gynecology 115.3 (2010): 597-604.
13. Carrew CA., et al. “Excessive early gestational weight gain and risk of gestational diabetes mellitus in nulliparous women”. Obstetrics and Gynecology 119.6 (2012): 1227-1233.
14. Moon JH., et al. “Weight gain and progression to type 2 diabetes in women with a history of gestational diabetes mellitus”. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism 100.9 (2015): 3548-3555.