Authors : Ikeanyi M Eugene, Abasi J Isaac
DOI : 10.18231/j.ijogr.2020.033
Volume : 7
Issue : 2
Year : 2020
Page No : 157-162
Background: Preeclampsia is one of the leading causes of fetal and maternal morbidity and mortality
mostly in the less developed settings. It is a common confounding disorder of pregnancy complicating 3-10% of pregnancies worldwide. Its pattern and etiology are still very unclear.
Objective: To investigate the influence of the seasonal variations as defined by atmospheric temperature,
air relative humidity and mean rainfall on the incidence of preeclampsia-eclampsia.
Materials and Methods: This was a case series observational study that took place in a tertiary hospital
between 2012 and 2019. Analyzed data was extracted from the hospital admission and discharge records of
the preeclampsia-eclampsia women who delivered at the study center in the study period. Meteorological
variables were atmospheric temperature, relative humidity and rainfall. The season was stratified into the
wet humid season (April-October) and the dry hot season (November-March) based on these weather
parameters. The seasons and the months were independent variables while the incidence of preeclampsia
was the dependent variable.
Results: From our data the incidence of preeclampsia-eclampsia was 7.2%. The mean values were 6.7%
and 7.9% for wet and dry seasons respectively. The incidence of preeclampsia-eclampsia was on the
increase over the years of this data. The monthly peak incidences in each year within the study period
were consistently recorded in the months of February, August and December respectively.
Conclusions: The rate of occurrence of preeclampsia–eclampsia appeared to vary with the seasons. The
incidence appeared to be higher in the dry season with peaks at inter-seasonal periods.
Keywords: Preeclampsia, Eclampsia, Seasonal, Variation, Incidence, Wet, Dry.