Prevalence of Preeclampsia in Hormozgan Province

Introduction: Preeclampsia is a potentially life-threatening disease during pregnancy diagnosed by hypertension and proteinuria after 20 weeks of gestation. The etiology and pathogenesis remain mysterious and poorly understood. It is a major cause of maternal and neonatal death and morbidity worldwide, affecting nearly 5-10% of all pregnancies. In this study we, aimed to determine the prevalence of preeclampsia in southern Iran, various districts of Hormozgan province, in order to outline existing high risk disease-areas headed for early diagnosis of the disease. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was carried out on 1033 ethnic-matched unrelated pre-eclamptic subjects out of 17792 pregnant women who had delivery from September 2012 to March 2013 in Hormozgan province. Demographic and clinical features of the study subjects were collected using well-structured questionnaire. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS. Chi-Square test was used and P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Preeclampsia prevalence was generally 5.8% in Hormozgan. 41% and 59% of pre-eclamptic women were nullipara and multipara, respectively. 62% of the deliveries were done by Cesarian section. Individual frequency distribution of preeclampsia in each studied cities were 18.8% in Bandar Khamir, 13.7% in Bashagard, 12.1% in the province cities ranged from 3.1% in Kish to 18.8% in Bandar Khamir. Conclusion: Our study showed a similar frequency distribution as the world prevalence for pre-eclampsia. Early detection of high risk subjects for pre-eclampsia and subsequent perinatal care should be considered in some areas of the province. Planned intervention could manage and decrease the rate of pre-eclampsia and its complications effectively