Reproducibility of the 75 g oral glucose tolerance test for the diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus in a sub-Saharan African population

BMC Res Notes. 2017 Nov 28;10(1):622. doi: 10.1186/s13104-017-2944-7.

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the reproducibility of the 75 g oral glucose tolerance test and factors associated with non-reproducible results in Cameroonian pregnant women.

Results: Twenty-seven of the 84 participants (32.1%) who did the first oral glucose tolerance test were diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus. There was no difference between the means of the glycaemic responses at T0 (p = 0.64), T30 (p = 0.08), T60 (p = 0.86), T90 (p = 0.51), and T120 (p = 0.34) between the two oral glucose tolerance test. Age (p = 0.001) and BMI (p = 0.001) were significantly associated with non-reproducible results. The reproducibility of the oral glucose tolerance test in this study was 74.2%, and the kappa statistic's 0.46. In conclusion, the results of the oral glucose tolerance test were reproducible in only 74.2% of pregnant women in this study. This highlights that a single oral glucose tolerance test for the diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus should be interpreted with caution.

Keywords: Africa; Cameroon; Gestational diabetes; Oral glucose tolerance test; Reproducibility.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Cameroon
  • Diabetes, Gestational / diagnosis*
  • Female
  • Glucose Tolerance Test / standards*
  • Humans
  • Middle Aged
  • Pregnancy
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Young Adult