Change in prevalence of chronic hypertension in pregnancy after the updated ACC/AHA hypertension guidelines.

Abstract

The objective of this population-based retrospective study was to determine the effect of the updated hypertension definition by the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the American Heart Association (AHA) on the prevalence of chronic hypertension (CHTN) diagnosis in pregnancy. The pre-ACC/AHA group (N=14,505,399) consisted of births between 2013 and 2016 and the post-ACC/AHA group (N=7,269,010) consisted of births between 2018 and 2019. After adjusting for differences between groups, CHTN diagnosis was more common in the post-ACC/AHA group (p<0.001). In conclusion, the prevalence of CHTN diagnosis in pregnancy increased after the new ACC/AHA guidelines publication.