Trends in the prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus in southern Sweden, 2003-2012.

Summary, in English

There is accumulating evidence that gestational diabetes (GDM) is a growing problem. The lack of internationally standardized diagnostic procedures prevents consistent diagnosis and the burden of GDM must be determined in country-specific studies. In southern Sweden, GDM is defined as a 2-hour capillary plasma glucose concentration of ≥10.0 mmol/L during a universal 75 g oral glucose tolerance test. We report the crude prevalence of GDM during the years 2003-2012. Of 156 144 women who gave birth, 2.2% were diagnosed with GDM. When the effect of time on the prevalence of GDM was assessed in a log-linear Poisson model, an overall increase in prevalence of 35% was predicted, corresponding to an average annual increase of 3.4%. Predicted prevalence was 1.9 (95% CI 1.8-2.0) in 2003 and 2.6 (2.4-2.7) in 2012 (p<0.0001). Due to a simultaneous rise in birth rate, the number of women diagnosed with GDM increased by 64%. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.