Patterns of Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy in Selected Hospitals of Tigray, Ethiopia

Background: Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy is a common maternal health condition representing a spectrum of disease which is associated with increased risk of both adverse maternal and fetal outcomes. Despite the fact, there is limited evidence on the magnitude and trend of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy in Ethiopia.

Objective: This study aimed to describe the pattern of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy in selected hospitals of Tigray region.

Methods: The study was done in 6 randomly selected hospitals of Tigray region by reviewing medical records of all mothers admitted to the maternity units with the diagnosis of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy from September 2012 to August 2017. Data were abstracted using a checklist from the client’s chart, delivery registration, health management information system database and the admission logbook. Data analysis was performed using SPSS for windows version 20.0 and presented using text, tables, graphs and chart.

Results: A total of 45,329 mothers were admitted for delivery in the selected hospitals in the last five years. Out of the total deliveries, 1347 (3%) were managed for one of the hypertensive disorders of pregnancy during the review period. Of the total cases, 132 (9.8%) were diagnosed for gestational hypertension, 724 (53.7%) suffered from severe preeclampsa and 143 (12.1%) from eclampsia. The overall magnitude of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy showed an increasing trend over the last 5 years ranging from 1. 4% in 2013 to 4% in 2017. Similarly, severpreeclampsia/eclampsia showed a sharp increment in the first four years and a slight decline in the last 1 year.

Conclusion: Despite the major achievements in reducing maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality in Ethiopia, the magnitude of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy remained high and with an increasing trend. Hence, health institutions should implement strong strategies of counselling, screening, and follow-up of mothers in the antenatal clinics.