Prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus among Swampy Cree women

Background: Although high rates of gestational diabetes mellitus have been docu-mented in native populations, few studies have examined rates of the disease among native Indians in Canada. The authors conducted a study to estimate the prevalence of gestational diabetes among Swampy Cree women, to identify fac-tors predictive of the occurrence of gestational diabetes, and to identify delivery and infant outcomes related to the presence of the disease. Methods: Information on Swampy Cree women who gave birth at Weenee-bayko Hospital, Moose Factory, James Bay, Ont., between 1987 and 1995 was obtained from medical charts. Patients with and without gestational dia-betes were compared. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify inde-pendent predictors of gestational diabetes. Delivery and infant outcomes that occurred secondary to gestational diabetes were also identified by means of logistic regression. Results: A total of 1401 deliveries occurred at Weeneebayko Hospital over th