Diagnostic Value of Rapid Biophysical Profile in Comparison to Biophysical Profile in Pregnant Women with Insulin-Dependent Diabetes

Having a rapid and low cost diagnostic approach in assessment of fetal wellbeing is an important goal for prenatal care process. The aim of this study was to determine the diagnostic value of rapid biophysical profile (rBPP) in comparison to biophysical profile (BPP).

In this study 142 pregnant women with insulin-dependent diabetes referred to Besat Hospital (Sanandaj, Iran) were evaluated in terms of fetal health. Age, gestational age and non-stress test (NST) data of patients were collected. The fetuses were evaluated using the standard BPP and selected rBPP methods. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive values (PPV) and negative predictive values (NPV) were calculated. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was plotted. The data were analyzed in Stata 14 software, using appropriate statistical analyses.

The mean ± standard deviation (SD) of maternal age and gestational age of the studied subjects were 30.6 ± 6.3 and 35.6 ± 1.5 weeks, respectively. The frequency of normal cases were 126 (88.7%) in the BPP method and 121 (85.2%) in the rBPP method. The results showed that sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV of rBPP in this study were 56.2%, 90.5%, 42.8% and 94.2%, respectively. The area under the ROC curve was 73.3%. Pearson Test showed a significant correlation between scores obtained through BPP and rBPP methods (p < 0.001).

Considering the high profile of the sensitivity and PPV of the RBPP method compared to BPP, rBPP method has a better capacity to discriminate non-distressed fetuses from distress-exposed fetuses. It can also be used as a quick and easy method in crowded centers with limited evaluation tests, where not much skill is needed.