Maternal Factors and Adverse Perinatal Outcomes in Women with Preeclampsia in Maceió, Alagoas

BACKGROUND Preeclampsia has been associated with several risk factors and events. However, it still deserves further investigation, considering the multitude of related factors that affect different populations. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the maternal factors and adverse perinatal outcomes in a cohort of pregnant women with preeclampsia receiving care in the public health network of the city of Maceió. METHODS Prospective cohort study carried out in 2014 in the public health network of the city with a sample of pregnant women calculated based on a prevalence of preeclampsia of 17%, confidence level of 90%, power of 80%, and ratio of 1:1. We applied a questionnaire to collect socioeconomic, personal, and anthropometric data, and retrieved perinatal variables from medical records and certificates of live birth. The analysis was performed with Poisson regression and chi-square test considering p values < 0.05 as significant. RESULTS We evaluated 90 pregnant women with preeclampsia (PWP) and 90 pregnant women without preeclampsia (PWoP). A previous history of preeclampsia (prevalence ratio [PR] = 1.57, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 1.47 - 1.67, p = 0.000) and black skin color (PR = 1.15, 95% CI 1.00 - 1.33, p = 0.040) were associated with the occurrence of preeclampsia. Among the newborns of PWP and PWoP, respectively, 12.5% and 13.1% (p = 0.907) were small for gestational age and 25.0% and 23.2% (p = 0.994) were large for gestational age. There was a predominance of cesarean delivery. CONCLUSION Personal history of preeclampsia and black skin color were associated with the occurrence of preeclampsia. There was a high frequency of birth weight deviations and cesarean deliveries.