Author(s)

Adwoa Nyarko¹, Joshua A. Kunfah², David Z. Kolbilla^3*, Collins Adombire Akayuure⁴, Jamilatu B. Kappiah⁴, Sylvanus Kampo⁵

¹Department of Physician Assistantship, School of Medicine, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho, Ghana.
²Department of Anaesthesia, Wa Regional Hospital, Wa, Ghana.
³Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, University for Development Studies, Tamale, Ghana.
⁴Department of Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, C. K. Tedam University of Technology and Applied Sciences, Navrongo, Ghana.
⁵Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, School of Medical Sciences, C. K. Tedam University of Technology and Applied Sciences, Navrongo, Ghana.

Background: In Sub-Saharan Africa, pre-eclampsia remains a major health problem contributing to high rates of maternal mortality. Despite this condition having adverse effects on maternal and child health, its prevalence and associated risk factors are still significant, especially in developing countries including Ghana. This study aimed to assess the prevalence and demographic distributions associated with pre-eclampsia among pregnant women at the Ho Teaching Hospital. Methods: A facility-based retrospective study was conducted by reviewing available data or hospital records of pregnant mothers admitted to the labor and maternity wards from January 2018 to December 2020. All pregnant women who were diagnosed with pre-eclampsia within this period were included in the study. The data were collected using a structured checklist. Results: 5609 data on pregnant women from 2018 to 2020 were recorded. Out of the 5609 data recorded, 314 pre-eclampsia cases were recorded giving an overall prevalence of 5.6%. The yearly prevalence for 2018, 2019, and 2020 were 4.6%, 5.6%, and 6.6%, respectively. The most recorded pre-eclampsia cases were seen among women within the age group of 18 - 24 years. The data showed that 112 (35.7%) of the pregnant women who had pre-eclampsia were nulliparous. Pre-eclampsia-associated maternal and fetal complications were; preterm delivery 221 (70.4%), intrauterine fetal death 62 (19.7%), eclampsia 9 (2.9%), HELLP syndrome 5 (1.6%) and maternal death 17 (5.4%). Associated factors of pre-eclampsia were parity, level of education, and occupation (p ≤ 0.05). Conclusion: The findings of this study showed a rising trend in the incidence of pre-eclampsia over the years at the Ho Teaching Hospital. Parity, level of education, and occupation were found to be associated with developing pre-eclampsia.

Pre-Eclampsia, Prevalence, Demographic Distributions, Risk Factors, Antenatal, Maternal

Nyarko, A. , Kunfah, J. , Kolbilla, D. , Akayuure, C. , Kappiah, J. and Kampo, S. (2024) Prevalence and Demographic Distributions of Pre-Eclampsia among Pregnant Women at Ho Teaching Hospital. Open Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 14, 621-636. doi: 10.4236/ojog.2024.144054.