Case-referent study reveals key clinical warning signs and demographic risks for eclampsia in pregnant women, highlighting the urgent need for improved routine antenatal blood pressure screening.
In Maputo 133 consecutive eclamptic patients were compared with 393 non-eclamptic referent women. Significant risk factors for eclampsia were age < or = 18 years, household size < or = 3 individuals, unwanted pregnancy, walking to antenatal clinics and, in the thrid trimester, headache, foot oedema, hand or face oedema, epigastric pain, visual disturbance, ear buzzing and dizziness. Significantly more cases than referents reported no blood pressure measurements in antenatal clinics. It is concluded that the quality of antenatal clinics can be improved by enhanced community awareness of danger signs, by early recognition of risk factors and by better management of prodromal symptoms of eclampsia.
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Bugalho et al. (2001) studied this question.
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