High blood pressure complications in US pregnancies have nearly doubled


Date:
November 9, 2020
Source:
American Heart Association
Summary:
Researchers found high blood pressure complicated about 80,000
pregnancies in 2018, nearly twice as many as in 2007. Women living
in rural areas continue to be approximately 20% more likely to
have high blood pressure before pregnancy than women living in
urban communities.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Nearly twice as many pregnancies were complicated by high blood pressure
in 2018 than in 2007, and women living in rural areas continue to have
higher rates of high blood pressure compared to their urban counterparts, according to preliminary research to be presented at the American
Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2020. The meeting will be held virtually, Friday, November 13 -- Tuesday, November 17, 2020.


========================================================================== Pre-pregnancy hypertension is a well-established risk to the health of
both mothers and infants, and mortality rates of mothers are increasing
in the U.S.

with significant rural-urban disparities. The goal of the study, "Trends
and Disparities in Pre-pregnancy Essential Hypertension Among Women
in Rural and Urban United States, 2007-2018," was to detail trends in
maternal pre-pregnancy high blood pressure so geographically targeted prevention and policy strategies can be developed.

"We were surprised to see the dramatic increase in the percentage over
the last 10 years of women entering pregnancy with hypertension. It
was also shocking to see women as young as 15 to 24 years old with high
blood pressure, and the statistics were worse in rural areas, leading
us to be concerned these numbers may, in part, be driven by hospital
closures and difficulty accessing care," said the study's lead author
Natalie A. Cameron, M.D., a resident in the department of medicine at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

Researchers collected maternal data from almost 50 million live births
in women ages 15 to 44, between 2007 and 2018, from the national CDC
Natality Database.

They calculated rates of pre-pregnancy hypertension per 1,000 live
births overall and by the type of community the women lived in (rural
or urban). The annual percentage change was calculated to compare yearly
rates between rural and urban settings.

Results from the analysis indicate:
* The rate of pre-pregnancy hypertension per 1,000 births nearly
doubled in
both rural (13.7 to 23.7) and urban (10.5 to 20) women.

* In both rural and urban areas, hypertension rates were lower among
younger women (ages 15-19) than in older women (40-44), yet all
age groups experienced similar rate increases between 2007 and 2018.

* The greatest annual percentage change of pre-pregnancy hypertension
was
nearly 10% for women in rural areas and 9% for women in urban areas.

"These data demonstrate unacceptable increases in the number of
women with hypertension that need to be addressed urgently," says
Cameron. "Preventive care must start before pregnancy. This is especially important in rural communities where there is a far greater burden of
high blood pressure and much higher risks to the health of mother and
baby. We also must address the structural and systemic racism that can
be barriers to high quality care." Important limitations of this work
include the lack of data on continuous blood pressure measurements,
as well as other important factors that can be related to high blood
pressure such as body mass index.

Co-authors are Rebecca Molsberry, M.P.H.; Jacob B. Pierce, B.A.; Amanda M.

Perak, M.D., M.S.; William A. Grobman, M.D., M.B.A.; Norrina B. Allen,
Ph.D.; Philip Greenland, M.D.; Donald M. Lloyd-Jones, M.D., Sc.M.;
and Sadiya S. Khan, M.D., M.Sc. Author disclosures are in the abstract.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by American_Heart_Association. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


==========================================================================


Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201109074122.htm

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