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Candy twists viable option to glucola beverage in gestational diabetes screening
Candy licorice twists may be just as effective in screening for gestational diabetes as a standard glucola beverage, according to research in American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
Researchers found that women better tolerated strawberry-flavored licorice twists (Twizzlers; The Hershey Company) vs. glucola and experienced fewer false-positive results, suggesting the candy also could serve as a cost-saving alternative.
“Among women who screened positive by glucola but, ultimately, tested negative in the 3-hour confirmatory test (so-called false positives), a significant number screened negative by Twizzlers,” Kjersti Aagaard, MD, PhD, of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Baylor College of Medicine, told Endocrine Today. “In other words, there were fewer false-positive tests with the Twizzlers. This would have led to significant cost savings in this initial small study approximating $900.”
Kjersti Aagaard
In a double crossover study, Aagaard, Diana A. Racusin, MD, of Baylor College of Medicine, and colleagues analyzed data from 20 pregnant women from the high-risk obstetrics clinic at Ben Taub General Hospital in Houston who screened positive for gestational diabetes after a 1-hour, 50-g glucose tolerance test and were already required to undergo a 3-hour glucose test to confirm results, thereby serving as their own controls.
Participants, who underwent testing between July and October 2013, consumed 10 candy twists within 5 minutes and had blood drawn an hour later for glucose testing. Screen-positive values were set at 130 mg/dL or higher. Blood glucose test values were masked to providers, and participants proceeded with their scheduled 3-hour, 100-g glucose tolerance tests.
After consuming candy twists, 11 of the 20 women screened positive for gestational diabetes. Two participants who were ultimately diagnosed with gestational diabetes after a 3-hour glucose tolerance test tested positive by both candy twists and glucola, according to researchers.
Researchers concluded that the positive predictor value of the candy twists was superior to glucola beverage (18% to 10%, respectively). Compared with the glucola beverage, candy twists also had an improved detection rate and false-positive rate (18% vs. 10% and 81.8% vs. 90%, respectively).
“Although both candy twists and glucola detected the two study participants who, ultimately, would be diagnosed with (gestational diabetes), the candy twists screening method would have avoided confirmatory 3-hour glucose tolerance tests in nine subjects (45%),” the researchers wrote.
Further studies in a low-risk, at-large population are needed before generalizing any findings, according to researchers.
“We are currently underway at Ben Taub General Hospital testing if Twizzlers are actually better than the standard glucola beverage among pregnant women regardless of initial screening status,” Aagaard said. “We are testing both their performance in screening, counting the number of false-negative and false-positive tests, asking women what they prefer and looking at cost-effectiveness. We anticipate that we will complete the current study of just over 500 pregnant women within several months.” – by Regina Schaffer
For more information:
Kjersti Aagaard, MD, can be reached at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030; email: aagaart@bcm.edu.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.