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. 2025 Oct;162(4):460-469.
doi: 10.25259/IJMR_1874_2025.

Prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus in India: The ICMR-INDIAB national study (ICMR-INDIAB-24)

Viswanathan Mohan  1 , Mohan Deepa  2 , Nikhil Tandon  3 , Rajendra Pradeepa  4 , Radhakrishnan Subashini  5 , Lunghar Janeline  2 , Ramakrishnan Lakshmy  6 , Sarita Bajaj  7 , Kalpana Dash  8 , Prabha Adhikari  9 , Mary John  10 , Uma Ram  11 , Haritha Sagili  12 , Usha Sriram  13 , Nomita Chandhiok  14 , Ashok Kumar Das  15 , Ranjit Unnikrishnan  1 , Shinjini Bhatnagar  16 , Sadhana Joshi  17 , Tanvir Kaur  18 , Rupinder Singh Dhaliwal  18 , Ranjit Mohan Anjana  1 ; ICMR-INDIAB Collaborative Study Group; ICMR-INDIAB Collaborative Study Group – Project Staff; ICMR-INDIAB Collaborative Study Group – Expert Group; ICMR-INDIAB Collaborative Study Group – State Principal Investigators and Co-Investigators
Collaborators, Affiliations

Prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus in India: The ICMR-INDIAB national study (ICMR-INDIAB-24)

Viswanathan Mohan et al. Indian J Med Res. 2025 Oct.

Abstract

Background & objectives The prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is known to be high among South Asians. However, there is no national study on prevalence of GDM in India and few data comparing prevalence of GDM in early pregnancy (Early GDM) and late pregnancy (Late GDM). Methods This is an analysis of pregnant women who participated in the nationally representative Indian Council of Medical Research-India Diabetes (ICMR-INDIAB) study. Of the 1,206 pregnant women 1,032 who underwent oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) or had fasting blood glucose measurement and did not have overt diabetes, were included in this study. GDM was diagnosed using the NICE criteria. GDM was classified as Early GDM if diagnosed before 20 wk of gestation and Late GDM if diagnosed ≥ 20 wk of gestation, Results The weighted national prevalence of GDM in India was 22.4 per cent (95% CI: 16.7-28%) with no significant urban rural differences (24.2% vs. 21.6%, NS). The prevalence of Early GDM and Late GDM were 19.2 per cent (9.8-28.7%) and 23.4 per cent (16.7-30.2%), respectively. Central India had the highest prevalence of GDM at 32.9 per cent (17.9-48%), and West India, the lowest at 16 per cent (3.1-29.3%). High systolic blood pressure and family history of diabetes were independently associated with risk of GDM. Interpretation & conclusions Nearly one in four pregnant women in India have GDM with regional variability. The prevalence of Early GDM is also high. Thus, there is a need for screening of all pregnant women for GDM starting in early pregnancy.

Keywords: Asian Indians; South Asians; early GDM; gestational diabetes; late GDM; prevalence.

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Conflict of interest statement

None.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Flowchart depicting the participant recruitment in the Indian Council of Medical Research-India Diabetes (ICMR-INDIAB) Survey.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Heatmap showing prevalence of overall gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in India by region. Regions details are as follows, North: Chandigarh, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan; South: Andhra Pradesh (undivided), Karnataka, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu; East: Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal; West: Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra; Central: Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh; North East: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura. The templates of the maps are constructed using MapChart (https://www.mapchart.net/india.html).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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