Pattern of Pica Practices and Prevalence of Gestational Hypertension among Antenatal Attendees in Tertiary Hospitals in Rivers State

Abstract

More than 500,000 women die each year from pregnancy and childbirth-related causes. Gestational hypertension complicates the pregnancy of 6-17% of healthy primigravida women and 2-4% of multiparous women. Maternal nutrition is a major factor for avoiding many complications in pregnancy and bring about good pregnancy outcomes. The aim of the study was to assess the Pattern of Pica Practice and Prevalence of Gestational Hypertension among Antenatal Attendees in Tertiary Hospitals in Rivers State. This study was a descriptive cross sectional study conducted on 250 antenatal attendees between the ages of 18 and 45 years in tertiary hospitals in Rivers State. It was a non-invasive self-administered questionnaire based study. Data obtained from the study was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25 and values of 0.05 and below were considered significant. The result obtained from the study revealed a 14.0% prevalence of gestational hypertension among antenatal attendees. It also revealed a 31.6% pattern of pica among the attendees. The most common forms of pica in the study were Geophagia (75.9%), Pagophagia (64.6%), Amylophagia (20.3%), and lastly Lithophagia (16.5%). The frequency of pica was 55.7% daily, 8.9% thrice a week and 36.4% weekly. Those with mild pica were about 31.6%, moderate pica was 55.7% and severe was about 12.7%. At the end of the study, it was ascertained that there was a 14% prevalence of gestational hypertension among antenatal attendees at tertiary hospitals in Port Harcourt. The pattern of pica among the women was 31.6% and consisted of Geophagia, Pagophagia, amylophagia and lithophagia. There was a significant association between sociodemographic characteristics such as age, marital status, occupation and ethnicity with pica practice. Clinical and obstetric characteristics like gravidity, parity, blood pressure and f