Search

Objective To estimate the prevalence and prognosis of proteinuria at enrolment in the 27 intervention clusters of the Community-Level Interventions for Pre-eclampsia cluster randomized trials. Methods We identified pregnant women eligible for inclusion in the trials in their communities in four countries (2013-2017). We included women who delivered by trial end and received an intervention antenatal care visit. The intervention was a community health worker providing supplementary hypertension-oriented care, including proteinuria assessment by visual assessment of urinary dipstick at the first visit and all subsequent visits when hypertension was detected. In a multilevel regression model, we compared baseline prevalence of proteinuria (≥ 1+ or ≥ 2+) across countries. We compared the incidence of subsequent complications by baseline proteinuria. Findings Baseline proteinuria was detected in less than 5% of eligible pregnancies in each country (India: 234/6120; Mozambique: 94/4234; Nigeria: 286/7004; Pakistan: 315/10 885), almost always with normotension (India: 225/234; Mozambique: 93/94; Nigeria: 241/286; Pakistan: 264/315). There was no consistent relationship between baseline proteinuria (either ≥ 1+ or ≥ 2+) and progression to hypertension, maternal mortality or morbidity, birth at < 37 weeks, caesarean section delivery or perinatal mortality or morbidity. If proteinuria testing were restricted to women with hypertension, we projected annual cost savings of 153 223 981 United States dollars (US$) in India, US$ 9 055 286 in Mozambique, US$ 53 181 933 in Nigeria and US$ 38 828 746 in Pakistan. Conclusion Our findings question the recommendations to routinely evaluate proteinuria at first assessment in pregnancy. Restricting proteinuria testing to pregnant women with hypertension has the potential to save resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is associated with adverse maternal and fetal outcomes, and the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) is the recommended test for its diagnosis. We evaluated the role of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) in screening and diagnosis of GDM and its correlation with adverse pregnancy outcomes.Subjects and Methods: In this prospective observational study, OGTT and HbA1c were performed in 500 antenatal women between 24 and 28 weeks of gestation; the pregnant women were followed up thereafter. Repeat OGTT and HbA1c were done in women with GDM at 6 weeks postpartum.Results: Among the 500 women, 45 were diagnosed with GDM, for an incidence of 9%. The mean HbA1c level in women with GDM was 6.2 ± 0.6%, whereas it was 5.4 ± 0.5% in those with normoglycemia. Women with GDM had a higher incidence of pregnancy-related complications compared with normoglycemic women. An HbA1c cutoff of 5.3% had a sensitivity of 95.6% and a specificity of 51.6% for the diagnosis of GDM and would have avoided OGTT in approximately half of antenatal women, while missing 5% of the women. However, those with an abnormal HbA1c will require a confirmatory OGTT, as 50% of normoglycemic women would be misclassified as having GDM by this approach. On repeat testing postpartum, two of 45 women (4.4%) had overt diabetes mellitus, whereas five (11.1%) had impaired glucose tolerance.Conclusions: Although HbA1c cannot replace OGTT in the diagnosis of GDM, it can be used as a screening test, avoiding OGTT in approximately 50% of women, if a cutoff of 5.3% is used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]