Association between Gestational Hypertension and Obstructive Sleep Apnea: A Case- Control Study

Gestational hypertension (GH) is considered as one of the important health-related issues of pregnant women. One of the raised problems in the pathogenesis of GH is obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). This study aimed to evaluate associated factors of OSA among an employed pregnant population.

In this study, 200 employed pregnant women with GH as the case group and 200 healthy pregnant ones as the control group were enrolled. Blood pressure >140/90 after 20 weeks of gestational age without proteinuria was defined as GH. Chi-square and Mann-Whitney tests were applied for statistical analysis.

Mean ± SD of age and body mass index (BMI) were 32.85 ± 5.45 (years) and 31.85±5.97 (kg/m2) among the case group, respectively. Participants with GH had higher mean BMI, neck circumference, and more frequency of snoring than the control group, which was statistically significant (P<0.012, P<0.025, and P<0.007, respectively). Sales and service occupations consisted the group with the highest frequency of GH.

Participants with GH had higher BMI, snoring, observed apnea, and neck circumference. This observation warrants comprehensive assessment of OSA and related risk factors among patients with GH.