Risk factors of pregnancy related hypertension among women attending maternal health care service in selected public hospitals of Tigray, Ethiopia

Introduction: Hypertensive disorder of pregnancy is the commonest medical complication of pregnancy. The incidence varies in different populations and is also affected by the definition used. Generally the problem is more common in the developing countries than it is in the developed countries. Several studies have shown that null parity, extreme ages, race (being black) and others as risk factors for this problem. 
Objective: This thesis is to determine risk factors of pregnancy related hypertension among women attending Maternal Health Services in Tigray zonal Public Hospitals between July 2010 and June 2012. 
Methods: This case-control study was-done at the selected zonal Hospitals of Tigray Regional state between March 2013 and June 2013. All the 80 deliveries complicated with hypertension were compared and analyzed with 320 pregnancies that were not complicated with the disease. Data analysis was performed using SPSS. The differences were considered to be significant if the p-values were less than 0.05.
Results: Using bivariate analysis, several factors linked to hypertensive disorder in pregnancy were identified. They included early adolescence, illiteracy, and lack of occupation, null parity and family history of hypertension. At multivariate analysis, the risk of having hypertension during pregnancy remained greater for illiterate women (OR: 1.8; 95%CI: 1.0-3.1), early age pregnancy (OR: 2.6; 95%CI: 1.3- 5.1)
Conclusion and recommendation: In general early age pregnancy, housewives, women with histories of hypertension during pregnancy were significant in the bivariate analysis. However risk factors for hypertensive diseases in pregnancy in Tigray seem to include early teenage status and illiteracy, Quality antenatal care services with good obstetric and neonatal care at delivery are essential for early recognition and management of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. The knowledge about the aforesaid factors seems to lay the tracks for its prevention in Tigray.