Due to the importance of early detection and treatment of GDM knowing theprevalence of it in the community will help to focus more on it and point out if thiscommunity has an increasing risk factors to have it . Which is finally will lead to helpin reducing those risk factors .
Established risk factors for GDM are advancedmaternal age, obesity, and family history of diabetes1 the prevalence of GDMdiffers around the world , In Australia, GDM prevalence was found to be higher inwomen whose country of birth was China or India than in women whose country ofbirth was in Europe or Northern Africa2 . In Europe, GDM has been found to bemore common among Asian women than among European women 3 In India, GDMhas been found to be more common in women living in urban areas than in womenliving in rural areas 4 and in another data showing that GDM prevalence hasincreased by ?16–127% in several race/ethnicity groups during the past 20 years.2,5-10 All studies of trend in GDM conducted in different populations and with differentmethodologies consistently reported an increase in GDM in all race/ethnicity groups,suggesting that the observed increase in GDM prevalence may be true. However,none of the six studies could distinguish between women who have been reclassifiedpostpartum as having underlying diabetes from those who returned to normal glucosetolerance. Higher relative increases in younger women suggest that the prevalence ofrisk factors for GDM may have increased more in younger women than in olderwomen.
However, none of the studies had information on maternal obesity, the mostimportant modifiable risk factor for GDM 11 It is critical to know the risk factorsfor GDM not only to better understand trends in GDM, but also to allow earlyidentification of women at risk and prevention of this common pregnancycomplication. Whatever the underlying reason for the observed increases in theprevalence of GDM, the health care system is faced with an increase in GDM.Therefore, this pregnancy complication will require increased resources to manageappropriate glycemic control during pregnancy and reduce adverse perinatal outcomesIn addition, ?50% of women with GDM are expected to develop type 2 diabeteswithin 5 years of the index pregnancy 12 In conclusion, a true increase in theprevalence of GDM, aside from its adverse consequences for infants in the newbornperiod, might reflect or contribute to the ongoing pattern of increasing diabetes andobesity. The possible long-term effects of the increase in GDM on the immediateoffspring will not be known for decades. Access to health care and quality care forGDM women and their offspring need to be more widely available.
Therefore,coordinated efforts are required to alter these trends in GDM and to prevent chronicdiabetes in GDM patients and their offspring.
