The association between an oral glucose tolerance test performed at term pregnancy and obstetric outcomes

Aims Assessing the value of oral glucose tolerance test performed at term pregnancy in identifying obstetric complications. Methods Retrospective cohort study of women with a normal 50 g glucose challenge test who also had an oral glucose tolerance test at term (defined as at or after 37 weeks of gestation). Comparison between the pathological and normal oral glucose tolerance test groups was performed. Results The mean glucose in the glucose challenge test of women in the normal oral glucose tolerance test (n = 256) group was lower than that in the pathological oral glucose tolerance test (N = 16) group (105 +/- 17 mg/dl (5.8 +/- 0.9 mmol/l) vs 117 +/- 13 mg/dl (6.5 +/- 0.7 mmol/l), p = 0.007). Relevant obstetrical complications did not differ significantly between the groups. Of note, in the pathological oral glucose tolerance test group only one woman delivered a macrosomic infant. Conclusions A pathological oral glucose tolerance test performed at term was unable to identify women at risk for impaired glucose metabolism-related obstetric complications and is therefore of limited clinical value and seems to be unjustified.