Preeclampsia among Hispanic women in a Detroit health system.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: We wished to estimate the incidence of preeclampsia among a group of Hispanic women in the greater Detroit metropolitan area. PARTICIPANTS: We reviewed delivery records of 559 Hispanic women from a Detroit hospital and prenatal records of 134 Hispanic women who received care from an affiliated federally qualified health center in southwest Detroit. DESIGN: A retrospective chart review was conducted. The physician's diagnosis was used to study hospital patients. The health center patients were diagnosed on the basis of criteria established in the National High Blood Pressure Education Working Group Report. RESULTS: In 1998, Hispanic women who delivered at the study hospital had an incidence of preeclampsia or pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) of 1.3% (7/559), compared to non-Hispanics 5.3% (118/2241) (chi2(1) = 10.35, P < .05). The relative risk was .24. From health center prenatal records, the incidence of preeclampsia/PIH among the 134 patients was 3.7%. The difference in the incidence of preeclampsia/PlH between delivery records at the hospital (1.3%) and health center prenatal records (3.7%) was not statistically significant (chi2(1) = 1.6, P > .10). CONCLUSION: Among women giving birth at a Detroit hospital, Hispanic women had a lower risk of developing preeclampsia or PIH compared to non-Hispanic women.