[Screening for gestational diabetes with capillary blood glucose]

Two hundred and twenty 3rd trimester pregnant women were randomly selected to perform 50 g oral glucose tolerance screening test. Simultaneously, both capillary and venous blood samples were obtained one hour after the glucose load. A high correlation between capillary and venous glucose levels was found (r = 0.87, P < 0.01). From the receiver operator characteristic curve, it was found that the capillary glucose value of 9.1 mmol/L might be defined as abnormal threshold value for 100g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). The consistent rate between capillary and venous glucose test was 91.8%. In 100g OGTT, of 43 cases whose venous glucose were > or = 7.8 mmol/L, 11 were diagnosed as gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). All of these 11 patients had capillary glucose > or = 9.1 mmol/L. This results suggest that the capillary blood glucose test may be feasible for screening of gestational diabetes.