Abstract
Background Hyperglycemia in pregnancy complicates up to 30% of pregnancies in Africa, and this poses a major risk to both the mother and fetus. Although recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), universal screening for hyperglycaemia in pregnancy is not routinely done in many of the hospital in low- and middle-income countries. This study sought to determine the frequency and factors associated with hyperglycaemia first detected in pregnancy at a general public hospital in South Western Uganda. Methods We conducted this study at Itojo General Hospital (IGH) in Ntungamo District, South Western Uganda. The study followed a cross-sectional design that employed a systematic random sampling technique to identify potential study participants during the months of October to December 2019. Using a pretested questionnaire, data on sociodemographic and medical characteristics were collected on a sample of 307 pregnant women. Blood samples were collected and analyzed for hyperglycemia using random blood sugar and fasting blood sugar test results. Data generated were analyzed with appropriate statistical tests using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 26 (SPSS Inc., USA) at P < 0.05. Results The frequency of hyperglycaemia was found to be 15.6% among the study population. Multivariate analysis revealed that the ages of 19-30 years, peasantry, and multiparity with more than 5 live children and second trimester pregnancy were independent risk factors for the observed hyperglycaemia frequency. Conclusion Our study reports new epidemiological information about the frequency and risk factors of hyperglycaemia in pregnancy from a selected Ugandan population. Our findings suggest an introduction of hyperglycaemia screening in the routine antenatal care package for proper maternal and neonatal health outcomes.
Highlights
Hyperglycaemia is a metabolic condition resulting from defects in insulin secretion, insulin action, or both
Contrary to our findings is the frequency of hyperglycaemia in pregnant women obtained from two studies conducted in Tanzania and Rwanda, which was found to be 5.6% [15] and 3.2% [16], respectively
More on the frequency are the disagreeing findings from studies conducted in Rwanda (8.3%) [17], Tanzania (5.6%) [15], Egypt (8%) [18], and Nigeria (8.6%) [19] which obtained a lower frequency than what was observed in our study and that which was reported by the Management Sciences for Health [20] who conducted a study of hyperglycaemia in pregnancy among urban women in Tigray, Northern Ethiopia, and obtained a frequency of 15.8%
Summary
Hyperglycaemia is a metabolic condition resulting from defects in insulin secretion, insulin action, or both. Type 2 diabetes mellitus is as a result of an individual’s resistance to insulin with an insulin secretory defect [2]. Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is defined as any degree of glucose intolerance with onset or first recognition during pregnancy. This definition applies whether insulin or only diet. This study sought to determine the frequency and factors associated with hyperglycaemia first detected in pregnancy at a general public hospital in South Western Uganda. Blood samples were collected and analyzed for hyperglycemia using random blood sugar and fasting blood sugar test results. Our study reports new epidemiological information about the frequency and risk factors of hyperglycaemia in pregnancy from a selected Ugandan population. Our findings suggest an introduction of hyperglycaemia screening in the routine antenatal care package for proper maternal and neonatal health outcomes
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