Prevalence of chronic hypertension during pregnancy may have doubled since 2008

Investigators have found that the prevalence of chronic hypertension may be increasing among pregnant patients, according to a study published in Hypertension.

In the study, the investigators analyzed patterns in the prevalence and treatment of chronic hypertension in nearly 2 million pregnant patients prior to and following the publication of updated hypertension guidelines by the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association in 2017. They used the Merative Marketscan Research Database to identify U.S. commercial insurance claims between 2007 and 2021 and discovered that cases of chronic hypertension during pregnancy increased from 1.8% in 2008 to 3.7% in 2021.

However, the use of antihypertensive drugs only increased from 57% to 60% during the same period. The investigators revealed that the prevalence and treatment of chronic hypertension in this patient population didn’t increase following the publication of the 2017 guidelines.

Read more: Hypertension

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