Elevated Serum Uric Acid in the First Trimester as a Predictor of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus

The incidence of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus in the current study is 19.4 %. Pearson correlation with 1st-trimester serum uric acid concentration of 3.5 mg/dl as a cut-off point for the prediction of GDM risk is found to be statistically significant with a 'p' value of < 0.05. The positive predictive value of the study is (48.7%). Since the positive predictive value is low, serum uric acid as a single marker for diagnosing GDM has to be used with caution. However large-scale studies covering wider areas are needed to establish a concrete association between elevated serum uric acid levels and GDM prediction. A negative predictive value of 97.1% indicates that antenatal women with first-trimester uric acid levels less than 3.5 mg/dl are less likely to develop GDM later in the pregnancy and thereby at reduced risk of developing GDM. Sensitivity of 90.5% in our study indicates that most of the patients are correctly identified as having GDM by using the first trimester elevated serum uric acid values and hence can be used as a reliable predictor for gestational diabetes. LIMITATIONS: 1. The study was conducted in Coimbatore medical college and hospital. Only antenatal women attending this hospital were studied and those attending other peripheral hospitals in the same demographic area were not included in the study. 2. The study was done for a period of one year only and a greater number of patients could not be enrolled due to time limitations. 3. Since the study group represented only a few areas of the region the results could not be generalized to the entire population