Diet in Pregnancy and Preeclampsia: Is There An Association?A Hospital Based Matched Case Control Study

Abstract

Introduction: Preeclampsia has been rated amongst leading causes of feto-maternal morbidity and mortality but its etiology still remains not very clear.

Aims & Objectives: To study the association of intake of certain food items with preeclampsia.

Place and duration of study: This was a matched case-control study, carried out in tertiary care hospitals of Lahore during February 2019 to March 2020.

Material & Methods: One hunded and thirty-two subjects were recruited based on predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Matching was done for age, gestational period, parity, education status, and income status. Information on consumption of various food items was recorded on food frequency questionnaire and results were analyzed to determine risk of developing preeclampsia by computing Odds Ratio. Data entry and analysis was done using SPSS version 20., p value ? 0.05 was taken as significant.

Results: Milk, meat and fruits consumption in study group did not show statistically significant association with preeclampsia (OR 0.51, 0.69, 1.75 and p-value=0.194, 0.211, 0.114 respectively), while consumption of green leafy vegetables shows statistically significant difference between Cases and Control. Higher risk of developing preeclampsia was seen in Cases with deficient intake of green leafy vegetables than in Controls with regular intake (Odds ratio=3.51 and p-value=0.001).

Conclusion: Deficient consumption of green leafy vegetables is associated with higher risk of preeclampsia in pregnant women.