Effects of Antenatal Exercises on Clinical Outcomes in Pregnant Females with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

BackgroundGestational diabetes mellitus is the most common complication that affects the health of the child and mother during pregnancy. The study was aimed to determine the effects of Antenatal exercises on glucose levels, mode of delivery and APGAR Score in females with gestational diabetes mellitus.MethodsThis Randomized controlled trial study was conducted on 72 pregnant females at department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Mian Munshi DHQ Hospital, Lahore. The females in 20-35 years of age, at 20-24 weeks of gestation with diagnosed GDM were included to make sure that all the data could find out easily and genuinely. Group-A received Routine Physical Therapy with Insulin therapy and Group –B- received Antenatal exercises along with Insulin therapy. Total 3 sessions per week were given to the patients for 60 mins, from 20- 24 weeks of gestation, in which 1st six session given to the patient under supervision of therapist, remaining sessions was performed by the patients at home till the time of delivery. The outcome tools were APGAR scale for neonatal outcome and HbAc1 test % was measured for Glucose level. The data was entered and analyzed using SPSS Version 24. Nonparametric Mann Whitney u test was used to determine mean difference of glucose level and APGAR Scores between groups due to abnormal distribution of data. Chi square test was applied for mode of delivery among both groups. P-value ≤0.05 was considered statistically significant.ResultsMajority (69.4%) of the participants in experimental group had normal delivery, while 30.6% underwent C-section (P=0.00).The APGAR Score at 5 min was 8.86 ± 1.24(P=0.035) in Group A and9.38 ±1.07 in Group B(P=0.030). The HbAc1 was 6.25 ±0.98 in group A and in Group-B was 5.43 ±1.14(P=0.000).ConclusionAntenatal care is one of the essential components for pregnancy related outcomes. The antenatal exercise can decrease the chances of cesarean section, glucose level and APGAR score can be improved with use of antenatal exercise.Initial date of registration: 21/04/2021, Final Date of registration: 26/04/2021 ,Registration no: NCT04859348 ‘ClinicalTrials.gov Protocol Registration and Results System (PRS).’