Awareness of pregnancy induced hypertension among pregnant women in Tigray Regional State, Ethiopia

Introduction: pregnancy-induced hypertension is among the leading cause of maternal mortality in Tigray regional state, Ethiopia. However, there was no study in this study area about awareness of pregnancy induced hypertension among pregnant women. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess awareness of pregnancy induced hypertension among pregnant women. Methods: a cross-sectional study design was conducted on a total of 798 pregnant women attending antenatal care in general hospitals of Tigray Regional State. Data were collected from February to November 30, 2018. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to determine factors associated with poor awareness and p-values < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: a total of 792 pregnant women were included in this study with a response rate of 99.2%. In this study, 41.8% of pregnant women were having poor awareness of pregnancy-induced hypertension. Primigravida, women with no formal education, women with the lowest wealth status and occupation of a housewife were significantly associated with poor awareness. Additionally, there was a significant difference in the mean score of awareness of pregnancy-induced hypertension between normotensive women and women with pregnancy-induced hypertension (Mean score difference (95% CI) = 1.90(1.35, 2.45), t = 6.75, df = 790, p < 0.001)). Conclusion: a high proportion of pregnant women had poor awareness on pregnancy-induced hypertension. Health care providers should improve awareness of pregnant women about pregnancy-induced hypertension in antenatal care clinics and at a community level with a special focus of awareness on primigravida women, women with no formal education, women with lowest wealth status and housewives.