First Trimester Neck Circumference as a Predictor for the Development of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus

This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between neck circumference (NC) and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), and the efficacy of NC in predicting GDM by comparing with pregestational body mass index (preBMI) in southern Chinese woman.

A total of 371 pregnant women (97 GDM and 274 normal pregnant women) were recruited from the third affiliated hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China. NC was measured at 11-13⁺⁶ gestational weeks. GDM was diagnosed through a 75-g oral glucose tolerance test at 24-28 gestational weeks. Using the receiver-operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, we evaluated the association between NC and GDM.

The area under the receiver operator characteristic curves were 0.65 (95% CI: 0.60-0.70) for NC and 0.64 (95% CI: 0.59-0.69) for preBMI in diagnosing GDM and no difference was found between them (P = 0.66). NC ≥ 33.8cm was determined to be the best cut-off level for identifying subjects with GDM (sensitivity 68.04% and specificity 59.12%). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that a large NC in the first trimester was an independent risk factor for the development of GDM (odds ratio [OR] = 1.29, 95% CI: 1.72-7.45).

NC, as well as preBMI, might be a novel anthropometric index for GDM screening. The increase of NC could be an independent risk factor for GDM in first trimester pregnancy.