The Relationship between Gestational Hypertension and Quality of Life in Pregnant Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Background: Gestational hypertension is one of the high-risk pregnancies. Gestational hypertension can lead to important consequences such as Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), placental abruption, thromboembolism, maternal death and finally reduce the mother's quality of life. Considering the conflicting results regarding the relationship between gestational hypertension and quality of life, the present systematic review and meta-analysis study was conducted with the aim of investigating the relationship between gestational hypertension and quality of life.

Methods: In this systematic review and meta-analysis, published articles in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Sciences, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar databases were searched using English keyword hypertension, gestational hypertension, pregnancy, quality of life, and quality of life in pregnancy without publication date limit. Data analysis was done with employing STATA14 software. Heterogeneity was assessed using I2 index which was 0%. Therefore, the fixed effects method was used to combine the data and perform meta-analysis.

Results: The results of the current meta-analysis based on the fixed effects model showed that, in the psychological subscale, the mean standardized difference was (P= 0.008, (-0.14, -0.93): confidence interval [CI], standardized mean difference [SMD]= -0.35) and there was a statistically significant difference between the two intervention and control groups. So that the quality of life in the gestational hypertension group was lower than the healthy group, however in physical, social and environmental dimensions, there was no significant difference between the quality of life of healthy and hypertensive groups (P<0.05).

Conclusion: Gestational hypertension can lead to a decrease in the quality of life of pregnant women and expose them to the risks and complications of reducing the quality of life in high-risk pregnancies. Therefore, health care providers should provide adequate support according to the needs of the mother and develop diagnostic and treatment protocols to improve the health level of mothers