ESPE Abstracts

Neonatal hypoglycemia is the most common endocrine abnormality in children, which is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. The burden and risk factors of neonatal hypoglycemia in Qatar are suggested to be high because of the high prevalence of gestational diabetes.

Objective: To determine the incidence of neonatal hypoglycemia in Qatar in relation to the etiology (infants of diabetic mothers (IDM) vs infants of nondiabetic mothers (INDM). in Lira District, Northern Mg anda.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study including all newborn infants who had hypoglycemia during the first day of life, between 1-9-2017 and 31-8-2020. We subdivided the etiology of hypoglycemia into two main categories: (infants of diabetic mothers (IDM) vs infants of nondiabetic mothers (INDM). Routine screening of neonatal blood glucose levels was performed at 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 h after birth. The main outcome measures were hypoglycemia as a blood glucose level of <2.6 mmol/L.

Results: We detected 2599 newborns with hypoglycemia during the first 24h of life. participants of mean age 3.1 days (standard deviation (SD) 2.1) and mean weight of 2.5 +/- 0.8 kg. The 3- years cumulative incidence of Neonatal Hypoglycemia = 10.27 per 1000 newborns. The cumulative incidence for neonatal hypoglycemia in IDM was 6.61/1000 newborns while the cumulative incidence in NIDM was 3.66/1000 newborns.

Discussion: The incidence of transient neonatal hypoglycemia varies between 1–17% of newborns, and in at-risk babies, it may reach up to 50%. The relatively lower incidence of neonatal hypoglycemia in our study can be explained by the effective national program controlling gestational diabetes (GDM) in women despite its high prevalence (20.7% of pregnant women).

Conclusion: The cumulative incidence of neonatal hypoglycemia was 10.3/1000 newborns. Two-thirds of neonatal hypoglycemia occur secondary to gestational diabetes.