Review of Risk Factors Associated with Pregnancy Induced Hypertension

Pregnancy Induced Hypertension (PIH) is a condition occurring after 20th week of pregnancy in a previously normotensive patient. In India 5 percentage (3 - 23% across the country) of maternal death are attributed to hypertensive disorders in pregnancy as a direct cause of maternal death. Present paper reviews various risk factors associated with PIH. A total of 21 articles were identified and shortlisted by doing electronic and manual search by using specific key words. Results and conclusion of these studies were reviewed and collated. Descriptive analysis of 2401 deliveries from India shows, Male fetuses are significantly associated with occurrence of Pregnancy induced hypertension. Various risk factors significantly associated with Pre-eclampsia are urinary tract infection (UTI) during pregnancy (OR 1.6, 95% CI 1.1–2.5), primiparity (OR 3.8, 95% CI 2.8–5.2), black race (OR 1.5, 95% CI 1.1–1.9), less than a high school education (OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.1–3.6), exposure to diethylstilbestrol in utero (OR 2.4, 95% CI 1.2–2.4), body mass index (kg/m2) > 30 (OR 2.7, 95% CI 1.6–4.4) and cigarette smoking (OR 0.6, 95% CI 0.5–0.8). We conclude that pre-eclampsia is a heterogenous disorder with multi-factorial aetiology, and we have to keep that in focus when studying this disease.