Skip to main content
NCBI home page
CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association Journal logoLink to CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association Journal
. 1999 May 4;160(9):1293–1297.

Prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus among James Bay Cree women in northern Quebec

S Rodrigues 1, E Robinson 1, K Gray-Donald 1
PMCID: PMC1230310  PMID: 10333830

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus has been reported to vary widely in aboriginal populations. Most of the data have come from the United States. To help determine the extent of gestational diabetes in Canada's aboriginal population, the authors assessed the prevalence in a population of Cree women in northern Quebec. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted using the National Diabetes Data Group (NDDG) criteria. Information was obtained from patient charts on pregnancies between January 1995 and December 1996 among women residing in 9 Cree communities in the eastern James Bay region of northern Quebec. Women who were not Cree, had pre-existing diabetes, had spontaneous abortion or were receiving glucocorticoid treatment were excluded. RESULTS: Data on 654 pregnancies that met the inclusion criteria were available. Results of the screening oral glucose challenge test were available for 579 of the pregnancies; the remaining 75 were excluded. The mean gestational age at screening was 28.3 (standard deviation 2.6) weeks. The prevalence of gestational diabetes was 12.8% (74/579) (95% confidence interval [CI] 10.1%-15.5%). The prevalence in the inland communities was twice as high as that in the coastal communities (18.0% v. 9.3%, p = 0.002). Women with gestational diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance tended to be older, have had more pregnancies, weigh more before pregnancy and have heavier babies than those with a normal glycemic status. INTERPRETATION: The prevalence of gestational diabetes among James Bay Cree women in northern Quebec is twice as high as that among women in the general North American population and the second highest reported in an aboriginal group worldwide.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (106.8 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Benjamin E., Winters D., Mayfield J., Gohdes D. Diabetes in pregnancy in Zuni Indian women. Prevalence and subsequent development of clinical diabetes after gestational diabetes. Diabetes Care. 1993 Sep;16(9):1231–1235. doi: 10.2337/diacare.16.9.1231. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Berkowitz G. S., Lapinski R. H., Wein R., Lee D. Race/ethnicity and other risk factors for gestational diabetes. Am J Epidemiol. 1992 May 1;135(9):965–973. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a116408. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Brassard P., Robinson E., Lavallée C. Prevalence of diabetes mellitus among the James Bay Cree of northern Quebec. CMAJ. 1993 Aug 1;149(3):303–307. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Carr S. R., Slocum J., Tefft L., Haydon B., Carpenter M. Precision of office-based blood glucose meters in screening for gestational diabetes. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1995 Oct;173(4):1267–1272. doi: 10.1016/0002-9378(95)91368-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Caulfield L. E., Harris S. B., Whalen E. A., Sugamori M. E. Maternal nutritional status, diabetes and risk of macrosomia among Native Canadian women. Early Hum Dev. 1998 Feb 27;50(3):293–303. doi: 10.1016/s0378-3782(97)00074-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Coustan D. R., Carpenter M. W. Detection and treatment of gestational diabetes. Clin Obstet Gynecol. 1985 Sep;28(3):507–515. doi: 10.1097/00003081-198528030-00006. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Dooley S. L., Metzger B. E., Cho N. H. Gestational diabetes mellitus. Influence of race on disease prevalence and perinatal outcome in a U.S. population. Diabetes. 1991 Dec;40 (Suppl 2):25–29. doi: 10.2337/diab.40.2.s25. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Harris S. B., Caulfield L. E., Sugamori M. E., Whalen E. A., Henning B. The epidemiology of diabetes in pregnant Native Canadians. A risk profile. Diabetes Care. 1997 Sep;20(9):1422–1425. doi: 10.2337/diacare.20.9.1422. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Knoke J. D., Sokol R. J. Estimates of gestational age. JAMA. 1989 Apr 28;261(16):2329–2330. doi: 10.1001/jama.261.16.2329. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Lindsay M. K., Graves W., Klein L. The relationship of one abnormal glucose tolerance test value and pregnancy complications. Obstet Gynecol. 1989 Jan;73(1):103–106. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Livingston R. C., Bachman-Carter K., Frank C., Mason W. B. Diabetes mellitus in Tohon O'odham pregnancies. Diabetes Care. 1993 Jan;16(1):318–321. doi: 10.2337/diacare.16.1.318. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Magee M. S., Walden C. E., Benedetti T. J., Knopp R. H. Influence of diagnostic criteria on the incidence of gestational diabetes and perinatal morbidity. JAMA. 1993 Feb 3;269(5):609–615. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Metzger B. E. Summary and recommendations of the Third International Workshop-Conference on Gestational Diabetes Mellitus. Diabetes. 1991 Dec;40 (Suppl 2):197–201. doi: 10.2337/diab.40.2.s197. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Murphy N. J., Bulkow L. R., Schraer C. D., Lanier A. P. Prevalence of diabetes mellitus in pregnancy among Yup'ik Eskimos, 1987-1988. Diabetes Care. 1993 Jan;16(1):315–317. doi: 10.2337/diacare.16.1.315. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Okun N., Verma A., Demianczuk N. Gestational diabetes mellitus. Unresolved issues and future research directions. Can Fam Physician. 1997 Jan;43:88–93. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Pettitt D. J., Bennett P. H., Hanson R. L., Narayan K. M., Knowler W. C. Comparison of World Health Organization and National Diabetes Data Group procedures to detect abnormalities of glucose tolerance during pregnancy. Diabetes Care. 1994 Nov;17(11):1264–1268. doi: 10.2337/diacare.17.11.1264. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Pettitt D. J., Bennett P. H., Saad M. F., Charles M. A., Nelson R. G., Knowler W. C. Abnormal glucose tolerance during pregnancy in Pima Indian women. Long-term effects on offspring. Diabetes. 1991 Dec;40 (Suppl 2):126–130. doi: 10.2337/diab.40.2.s126. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Pettitt D. J., Knowler W. C., Baird H. R., Bennett P. H. Gestational diabetes: infant and maternal complications of pregnancy in relation to third-trimester glucose tolerance in the Pima Indians. Diabetes Care. 1980 May-Jun;3(3):458–464. doi: 10.2337/diacare.3.3.458. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Rith-Najarian S. J., Ness F. K., Faulhaber T., Gohdes D. M. Screening and diagnosis for gestational diabetes mellitus among Chippewa women in northern Minnesota. Minn Med. 1996 May;79(5):21–25. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Sermer M., Naylor C. D., Gare D. J., Kenshole A. B., Ritchie J. W., Farine D., Cohen H. R., McArthur K., Holzapfel S., Biringer A. Impact of increasing carbohydrate intolerance on maternal-fetal outcomes in 3637 women without gestational diabetes. The Toronto Tri-Hospital Gestational Diabetes Project. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1995 Jul;173(1):146–156. doi: 10.1016/0002-9378(95)90183-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Sugarman J. R. Prevalence of gestational diabetes in a Navajo Indian community. West J Med. 1989 May;150(5):548–551. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Young T. K., Szathmary E. J., Evers S., Wheatley B. Geographical distribution of diabetes among the native population of Canada: a national survey. Soc Sci Med. 1990;31(2):129–139. doi: 10.1016/0277-9536(90)90054-v. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal are provided here courtesy of Canadian Medical Association

RESOURCES