The prevalence of glucose intolerance among antenatal clients at Kenyatta National Hospital at, 24-36 weeks of gestation

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of and associated factors for glucose intolerance among antenatal clients at Kenyatta National Hospital at 24-36 weeks of gestation.Design: Cross-sectional analytical study.Setting: Kenyatta National Hospital antenatal clinic.Subjects: One hundred and two (102) antenatal mothers at a gestational age of 24-36 weeks were recruited into the study and underwent a 100g Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT) after consenting to participate in the study.Results: From the study 37(36%) had glucose intolerance while 65 (64%) had normal glucose tolerance. Among clients with glucose intolerance, 16.7% met the diagnostic criteria for gestational diabetes, 3.9% had impaired glucose tolerance and 15.7% had impaired fasting glycaemia. Of the clients with normal glucose tolerance 22.5% displayed flat curves. Factors significantly associated with glucose intolerance were: BMI > 25;P-value 0.036: OR 0.37 CI (1.06-6.90), history of and treatment for sub-fertility p-value 0.002: OR 8.69 CI (1.74-43.50) and family history of hypertension; p-value 0.037: OR 2.66 CI (1.04-6.78).Conclusion: The prevalence of glucose intolerance was 36%. This is much higher than the 5% previously reported. There is need to screen pregnant women for glucose intolerance to prevent the complications usually associated with it