RISK FACTORS OF HYPERTENSION DURING PREGNANCY.

Abstract

Maternal mortality has been one of the key problems in public health over the decades. This is because about 585,500 women lose their lives annually through maternal mortality. According to the World Health rganization, more than 14% of the world's deaths among pregnant women are attributed to hypertension-related to Pregnancy. This predicament hinders the efforts in reaching sustainable development goal three (3) which seeks to end preventable deaths of new- borns and children under five years of age. The aim of this study was to assess the risk factors of hypertension during pregnancy in the Tamale Metropolis. An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted among 424 pregnant women randomly sampled in three hospitals within the Tamale Metropolis. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data on socio-demographic, factors associated with elevated blood pressure and prevelance of Hypertension Induced Preganancy among pregnant women. Data was analysed in SPSS version 21. Bivariate logistic regression and multivariate logistic regression were used to determine associations and strength of associations, respectively, at a significant threshold of P < 0.05. In all 67 (15.7%) pregnant women were diagnosed with hypertension. The results further detailed that some of the pontential factors associated with hypertension include age (x2 = 11.62, p = 0.009) , occupation (x2 = 12.61, p = 0.027), family history of hypertension (x2 = 42.85, p < 0.001) and history of smoking .In a multivariate logistic regression, only history of smoking ( aOR = 3.97, CI = 1.4-11.1, p = 0.009) was statistically associated with hypertension. Pregnancy-Induced Hypertension is becoming increasingly recognized as a highly complex multisystem disorder with numerous contributing factors. Ghana Health Service should implement public education policy across all health facilities on the risk factors of Hypertension During Pregnancy to women before pregnancy to reduce the rate of HDP.