Male Fetal Sex: A Risk Factor for Gestational Diabetes Mellitus in Chinese Ethnicity [1R

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: About 6-7% of pregnancies are complicated by Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM); these pregnancies are at a higher risk for gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, cesarean section and other potential comorbidities. This study's objective is to determine whether Chinese mothers carrying male fetuses are at a higher risk of GDM compared with Chinese mothers carrying female fetuses. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective review of women of Chinese ethnicity who were admitted to NYU Lutheran for a delivery during calendar year 2015. This work in progress report covers all data for women with GDM and data for women without GDM from November 22, 2015 through the end of the year. Patients were excluded if they had late prenatal care initiation (>28 weeks), or missing data on key variable. Data collected included: Age, BMI, delivery type, birth weight, gestational age, fetal sex, and glucose values. We used the chi-squared test to compare the proportion of mothers with GDM among those with male versus female babies. RESULTS: We analyzed data for 141 women with GDM and 110 women without GDM. Diabetic women were significantly older than non-diabetic women (mean 28.8 vs 31.0, p < .001). Seventy-nine women with GDM (56%) had a male baby, while 56 (51%) non-diabetic women had a male baby, the difference was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: This study did not show a difference between diabetic and non-diabetic women in terms of fetal sex, however, it was not adequately powered and a larger study may show a different result.