A multicentre study to investigate the prevalence of abnormal carbohydrate metabolism in Chinese pregnant women

Abstract

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of abnormal carbohydrate metabolism in Chinese pregnant women. To study the inter-relationship between maternal body habitus, maternal serum glucose and birth weight of the baby. Methods: Multicentre observational study involving 713 pregnant Chinese women, attending antenatal clinics in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong. Results and Conclusion: The overall prevalence of abnormal glucose tolerance was 6.9%. The prevalence was 6.8%, 5.5%, 7.2% and 8.1% in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong, respectively. The differences among the centres did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.9). The mean ponderal index of women with abnormal glucose tolerance was significantly higher than that of women with normal glucose tolerance (15.2 vs 14.3, p < 0.01). The birth weight ratio of the babies was positively correlated with the maternal height (correlation coefficient 0.23, 95% C.I. 0.15-0.30), weight (0.32, 95% C.I. 0.25-0.39) and to a lesser extent, the fasting level of serum glucose (0.10, 95% C.I. 0.02-0.28) but not with the 2 hour level of serum glucose.