Outcome of gestational diabetes in Bengali Asians living in an east London health district.

The characteristics and outcome of pregnancy complicated by gestational glucose intolerance are described in a consecutive series of 69 Bengali Asian patients and a parallel group of 22 Caucasian patients. The Bengali patients were older and of higher parity than the Caucasians and more frequently required insulin therapy. However, the outcome of pregnancy was similar in terms of antenatal clinic attendance, the number of antenatal hospital admissions, glycaemic control, birthweight and mode of delivery. Of those patients who attended for postnatal glucose tolerance test, 20% of the Bengali population demonstrated persisting abnormality of glucose tolerance, whereas no abnormalities were evident in the Caucasian group. These findings are consistent with the high prevalence and early age of onset of non-insulin-dependent diabetes in Asian populations. The World Health Organisation (WHO) criteria for the diagnosis of impaired glucose tolerance proved insufficiently sensitive for the diagnosis of gestational diabetes. This was particularly demonstrated by four patients with apparently normal glucose tolerance by WHO criteria who subsequently required insulin therapy.