Faculty Collaboration Database

Association between body mass index and chronic hypertension in patients with hypertension disorders of pregnancy one-year postpartum. Pregnancy Hypertens 2024 Mar;35:32-36

Date

12/22/2023

Pubmed ID

38134483

Pubmed Central ID

PMC10939881

DOI

10.1016/j.preghy.2023.12.003

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-85180997094 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To determine the association between body mass index (BMI) and chronic hypertension (CHTN) one-year postpartum following pregnancies complicated by hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP).

STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study of patients with HDP (gestational hypertension or preeclampsia) in a single Midwestern academic center from 2014 to 2018. The primary outcome was CHTN at one-year postpartum, defined as systolic blood pressure ≥ 130 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure ≥ 80 mmHg or taking antihypertensive medication at one-year postpartum. The primary exposure variable was BMI at one-year postpartum, categorized as underweight (<18.5 kg/m²), normal (18.5-24.9 kg/m²), overweight (25-<30 kg/m²), and obese (≥30 kg/m²) and as continuous BMI variable. Descriptive statistics and adjusted logistic regression analysis were performed.

RESULTS: Out of 596 patients with HDP included in this analysis, 275 (46.1 %) had CHTN one-year postpartum. Mean one-year postpartum BMI was 27.9 ± 5.2 kg/m². Prevalence of CHTN at one-year postpartum was higher in obese (38.1 %) and overweight (30.0 %) groups compared to the normal weight group (29.9 %), p < 0.001. In multivariate logistic regression, obesity at one-year postpartum, compared to normal, was associated with 73 % higher likelihood of CHTN following HDP (adjusted OR 1.73, 95 % CI 1.06-2.84). With BMI as a continuous variable, each unit increase in BMI one-year postpartum was associated with 6 % higher likelihood of CHTN (adjusted OR 1.06, 95 % CI 1.02-1.15).

CONCLUSIONS: Obesity at one-year postpartum following HDP was associated with a higher risk of CHTN compared with normal BMI. Weight is a modifiable risk factor that should be targeted in postpartum interventions to reduce cardiovascular disease following HDP.

Author List

Anguzu R, Livergood CM, Hoppe KK, Kulinski J, Fitzgerald GD, Palatnik A

Authors

Ronald Anguzu MD, PhD Assistant Professor in the Institute for Health and Equity department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Jacquelyn P. Kulinski MD Associate Professor in the Medicine department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Anna Palatnik MD Associate Professor in the Obstetrics and Gynecology department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Body Mass Index
Female
Humans
Hypertension, Pregnancy-Induced
Obesity
Overweight
Postpartum Period
Pre-Eclampsia
Pregnancy
Retrospective Studies
Risk Factors