A COMPARATIVE-STUDY OF OBSTETRIC OUTCOME OF PATIENTS WITH PREGNANCY-INDUCED HYPERTENSION - ECONOMIC-CONSIDERATIONS

Background. Hypertension in pregnancy is associated with increased mat ernal and fetal morbidity and mortality. The aim of this prospective s tudy was to evaluate the obstetric outcome of patients with pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH) that delivered at the Maternity Hospital Ku wait within a period of six months and evaluate the economic implicati ons of present management strategies. Methods. This was a comparative study with age and parity, as matching variables, in 224 pregnant hype rtensive women and 224 normotensive controls. Results. During the stud y period, the incidence of PIH was 4.9 percent. They were more associa ted with diabetes mellitus and multiple pregnancy than controls (p<0.0 2). About 43 percent of the hypertensive parturients used antihyperten sive therapy. More of them had induction of labor (p<0.001), preterm d elivery (p<0.0002) and cesarean section (p<0.001), and babies with low birth weight (p<0.01). In the linear regression analysis, hypertensio n in pregnancy gave rise to more hospitalisation, intrauterine growth retardation and operative deliveries than the normotensive controls. T he perinatal mortality was higher (p<0.001). Conclusion. Despite the e conomic expenditure of about five times more for hypertensive women in pregnancy than in controls, both obstetric and neonatal outcome, are still significantly worse in the former. This study therefore advocate s more research into the prevention, prediction and management, includ ing neonatal care, of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.