Prepregnancy Factors Are Associated with Development of Hypertension Later in Life in Women with Pre-Eclampsia

Background: The aim of our study was to investigate the prepregnancy characteristics that are risk factors for the development of hypertension (HTN) and identify prepregnancy factors for the development of HTN in women affected by pre-eclampsia in their first pregnancy. Methods: We enrolled 1910 women who had undergone a National Health Screening Examination through the National Health Insurance Corporation between 2002 and 2003, and who had their first delivery affected by pre-eclampsia in 2004. Women were classified as having HTN if they were newly diagnosed with HTN from 2005 through 2012. Results: After 8 years of follow-up, 7.7% (148/1910) of pre-eclamptic women developed HTN. Using the Cox proportional hazards model, old age (hazard ratio [HR] 3.92, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.47-6.23), a family history of HTN (HR 2.28, 95% CI 1.46-3.58), prepregnancy obesity (HR 3.74, 95% CI 2.50-5.59), and high blood pressure (BP) (HR 2.78, 95% CI 1.85-4.19) were independently associated with the development of HTN. Conclusions: The results show that the development of HTN in pre-eclamptic women is related to prepregnancy factors. Recognizing who subsequently develops HTN postpartum in pre-eclamptic women with these prepregnancy factors could lead to early identification and lifestyle interventions, which could reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease.