Determinants of pre‐eclampsia among pregnant women attending antenatal care and delivery services at Bahir Dar public hospitals, northwest Ethiopia: A case‐control study

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Pre‐eclampsia (PE) is a pregnancy‐related syndrome that occurs after 20 weeks of pregnancy. The current study was designed to evaluate the determinants of PE in pregnant women following antenatal and delivery services. METHODS: An institution‐based case‐control study was performed in governmental hospitals of Bahir Dar city. The data were collected using an interview‐administered questionnaire and analyzed by SPSS version 20 software. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression models were utilized for the analysis of variables. A p < 0.05 was used to declare the level of significance. RESULTS: In this study, the mean ages (in years) of cases and controls were 28.20 ± 5.66 and 27.52 ± 4.70, respectively. Factors such as: being primiparous (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 3.19 at 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.71, 5.97), family history of hypertension (HTN) (AOR: 4.14 at 95% CI: 1.71, 10.05), previous history of PE (AOR: 7.97 at 95% CI: 2.42, 26.63), number of antenatal care (ANC) visits (AOR: 5.43 at 95% CI: 2.86, 10.33), not taking iron and folic acid supplement (AOR: 4.46 at 95% CI: 1.59, 12.48), body mass index ≥25 kg/m(2) (AOR: 3.47 at 95% CI: 1.78, 6.77), not consuming vegetables (AOR: 1.99 at 95% CI: 1.07, 3.69) and not consuming egg, milk and milk products (AOR: 3.00 at 95% CI: 1.47, 6.11) were the determinants of PE. CONCLUSION: In this study, different determinants of PE were identified. Hence, special attention should be given for primiparous women, women having previous history of PE and family history of HTN. Moreover, nutritional counseling should be given for pregnant women during ANC visits. Besides, higher officials should design an appropriate strategy to increase the number of mothers to complete their ANC visits and to take iron and folic acid supplements. Furthermore, to verify the determinants of PE, community‐based cohort studies are warranted.