Abstract

Background: Pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH) is a significance rise of blood pressure during pregnancy, occurring after 20 weeks. It includes gestational hypertension, mild pre-eclampsia , sever pre-eclampsia and eclampsia. So more, women with PIH disorders may progress from mild diseases to more serious conditions. This study assessed pregnancy induced hypertension and associated factors among pregnant women.
Methods: A hospital based cross- sectional study design was conducted in Karamara hospital, Jijiga town among 408 pregnant. Systematic random sampling was employed. The data was collected using pretested semi-structured questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS Version 20. Results: The prevalence of pregnancy induced hypertension was 19.1% in Karamara hospital. Maternal education (AOR=2.5, 95% CI%=1.2-5.3), age (AOR=2.73, 95% CI=1.31-5.7), previous history of preeclampsia (AOR=19.3, 95% CI%=5.2-72.1) and family history of preeclampsia (AOR=7.2, 95% CI%=2.9-17.8) were identified as predictor factors for occurrence of pregnancy induced hypertension.
Conclusion and recommendations: One out of five women developed pregnancy induced hypertension in Karamara referral Hospital, Jigjiga Ethiopia. This is figure is very high compared to studies conducted in Ethiopia. Socio-demographic factors like age less than 25 years, lack formal education, previous history of PIH and family history of PIH were independent predictors of development of pregnancy induced hypertension. Hence, this study suggests that early detection and management of mothers with PIH should be mandatory as part of focused antenatal care. Lastly, this study suggests that further studies should be conducted to assess lifestyle and dietary factors, using analytical study designs.

Keywords: Pregnancy; Hypertension; Eclampsia