Gestational diabetes mellitus: Challenges for different ethnic groups

Table 1 Large studies highlighting the prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus in women of different ethnicities living within a geographic region

Ref.	Year	City/region	Number of Women with GDM by ethnicity	Rate of GDM by ethnicity
Beischer et al[27]	1979-1998	Melbourne, Australia	66 Indian subcontinent 91 Chinese 60 Egypt and Arab countries 132 Other Asian 95 Vietnamese 143 United Kingdom and Northern Europe 270 Mediterranean 1008 Australian and New Zealand	15% Indian subcontinent 13.9% Chinese 7.2% Egypt and Arab countries 10.9% Other Asian 7.3% Vietnamese 5.2% United Kingdom and Northern Europe 7.3% Mediterranean 4.3% Australian and New Zealand
Solomon et al[63]	1990-1994	The Nurses Health Study II: 14 states in the United States	655 White 12 African-American 17 Hispanic 26 Asian	4.7% White 10.6% African-American 7.6% Hispanic 10.5% Asian
Sullivan et al[64]	1997	Sydney, Australia	730 Vietnamese 7226 Australian	5.3% Vietnamese 1.6% Australian
Savitz et al[28]	1995-2003	New York City, United States	398 North African 1018 Sub-Saharan Africa 3512 East Asia 1027 South-East Asia and Pacific Islands 4758 South Central Asia 5038 Non-Hispanic Caribbean 8767 Hispanic Caribbean 2780 Mexico 1133 Central American 4189 South American 6387 African-American 9846 Non-Hispanic White	7.2% North African 5.9% Sub-Saharan Africa 6.2% East Asia 8.6% South-East Asia and Pacific Islands 14.3% South Central Asia 6.8% Non-Hispanic Caribbean 4.9% Hispanic Caribbean 6.3% Mexico 4.9% Central American 6.6% South American 34.3% African-American 3.6% Non-Hispanic White
Chu et al[29]	2005-2006	Up to 19 states in the United States	5326 Japanese 32460 Asian Indian 25530 Chinese 25785 Filipino 11561 South Korean 21721 Vietnamese 20718 Other Asian 5761 Pacific Islander 1873925 White non-Hispanic 394091 Black non- Hispanic 677392 Hispanic 14617 American Indian	3.45% Japanese 8.03% Asian Indian 6.44% Chinese 6.9% Filipino 3.9% South Korean 6.14% Vietnamese 5.07% Other Asian 5.17% Pacific Islander 3.82% White non-Hispanic 3.54% Black non- Hispanic 3.63% Hispanic 5.13% American Indian
Kim et al[32]	2007-2009	California, United States	20129 Asian and Pacific Island 316 American Indian 3371 Black American 52256 Hispanic 1483 Other 18806 Non-Hispanic White	11.9% Asian and Pacific Island 7.6% American Indian 5.6% Black American 8.4% Hispanic 6.6% Other 5.4% Non-Hispanic White

GDM: Gestational diabetes mellitus.

Table 2 Diagnostic criteria for gestational diabetes mellitus prior to recommendations by the International Association of Diabetes in Pregnancy Study Group in 2010

	ADA-NDDG[65]	ADIPS[19]	NZSSD[66]	WHO (1999)[17]	CDA[67]	EASD[62]
Glucose load (g)	100	75	75	75	75	75
FPG (mmol/L)	5.3	5.5	5.5	7	5.3	6
1-h Glc (mmol/L)	10	-	-	-	10.6	-
2-h Glc (mmol/L)	8.6	8	9	7.8	9	9
3-h Glc (mmol/L)	7.8	-	-	-	-	-
Abnormal results to diagnose GDM	2 or more	1 or more	1 or more	1 or more	1 or more	1 or more

ADA-NDDG: American Diabetes Association National Diabetes Diagnostic Group; ADIPS: Australian Diabetes in Pregnancy Society; NZSSD: New Zealand Society for the Study of Diabetes; WHO: World Health Organization; CDA: Canadian Diabetes Association; EASD: European Association for the Study of Diabetes; FPG: Fasting plasma glucose; Glc: Glucose; GDM: Gestational diabetes mellitus.

Table 3 Studies comparing the prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus among different ethnicities in women born in Western countries with women born in foreign countries

Ref.	Year	City/Region	Rate of GDM in ethnic groups born in Western country	Rate of GDM in ethnic groups who migrated from their native country to a western country
Savitz, Janevic, Engel, Kaufman and Herring[28]	1995-2003	New York City, United States	1.7% North African 3.1% Sub-Saharan Africa 5.6% East Asia 4.3% South-East Asia and Pacific Islands 6.8% South Central Asia 3.4% Non-Hispanic Caribbean 4.4% Hispanic Caribbean 4.0% Mexico 3.4% Central American 3.1% South American	7.5% North African 5.9% Sub-Saharan Africa 6.3% East Asia 8.9% South-East Asia and Pacific Islands 14.5% South Central Asia 7.1% Non-Hispanic Caribbean 5.3% Hispanic Caribbean 6.4% Mexico 5.1% Central American 7.0% South American
Chu, Abe, Hall, Kim, Njoroge and Qin[29]	2005-2006	Up to 19 states in the United States	4.91% Japanese 5.54% Asian Indian 4.64% Chinese 5.95% Filipino 5.31% South Korean 5.16% Vietnamese 4.39% Other Asian 5.82% Pacific Islander	3.27% Japanese 8.81% Asian Indian 6.25% Chinese 7.31% Filipino 4.92% South Korean 6.2% Vietnamese 6.21% Other Asian 8.38% Pacific Islander

GDM: Gestational diabetes mellitus.