Prevalence and Determinants of Maternal and Perinatal Outcome of Preeclampsia at a Tertiary Hospital in Ethiopia

INTRODUCTION: Preeclampsia is a common pregnancy disorder with potential adverse maternal andneonatal outcomes. This study aimed to assess the prevalence and determinants of maternal and perinatal outcomeof preeclampsia at Ayder Comprehensive Specialized Hospital. Ayder Comprehensive Specialized Hospital (ACSH),is a tertiary hospital in northern Ethiopia where most preeclamptic patients are treated.METHODS: We performed a retrospective chart review of preeclamptic patients treated at ACSH betweenSeptember 1, 2015 and August 31, 2018. Descriptive analysis and logistic regression were applied for differentvariables. P value <.05 was taken as statistically significant.RESULTS: Over the study period, the total number of deliveries recorded was 8,502. There were 362 patientswith preeclampsia. The poor maternal outcome was present in 40% of cases while 25% of cases had poor perinataloutcomes. The top three poor maternal outcomes reported in this study were maternal death (2.8%), eclampsia(6.6%), and renal failure (1.1%). Headache (AOR 32.26 95% CI 0.03-32.60 and low hemoglobin value (AOR 15.9495% CI 2.34-108.81) were associated with poor maternal outcome. The poor perinatal outcomes were stillbirths(5.8%), early neonatal deaths (1.1%), and low APGAR score (18.8%). Earlier gestational age at diagnosis (AOR 2.1595% CI 1.22-3.79) was associated with poor perinatal outcome.CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: In a resource-limited setting where diagnostictools are scarce, the clinical profile should be taken into consideration for prediction of poor outcome. Owing to theassociation found between maternal outcome and hemoglobin, further prospective research is required to identifyif anemia was the cause or effect of preeclampsia.KEYWORDS: Preeclampsia, maternal, perinatal, outcome, Ayder, Ethiopia