Screening for Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement

20 May 2008 | Volume 148 Issue 10 | Pages 759-765

Description: Update of 2003 U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendation about screening for gestational diabetes.

Methods: The USPSTF weighed the evidence on maternal and neonatal benefits (reduction in preeclampsia, mortality, brachial plexus injury, clavicular fractures, admission to the neonatal intensive care unit for serious illnesses) and harms (physical and psychological harms) of screening for gestational diabetes identified for their 2003 recommendation and the accompanying systematic review of articles published since the 2003 review for screening after 24 weeks' gestation. Additional searches were performed for evidence published from 1966 to 1999 on screening before 24 weeks.

Recommendation: Current evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of screening for gestational diabetes mellitus, either before or after 24 weeks' gestation. (I statement.)

Author and Article Information

From the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, Maryland.

Disclaimer: Recommendations made by the USPSTF are independent of the U.S. government. They should not be construed as an official position of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Potential Financial Conflicts of Interest: None disclosed.

Requests for Single Reprints: Reprints are available from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Web site (http://www.preventiveservices.ahrq.gov).

^* For a list of the members of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, see the Appendix.