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The prevalence of pre‐eclampsia in migrant relative to native Norwegian women: a population‐based study
Author(s) -
Naimy Z,
Grytten J,
Monkerud L,
Eskild A
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
bjog: an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.157
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1471-0528
pISSN - 1470-0328
DOI - 10.1111/1471-0528.12978
Subject(s) - norwegian , eclampsia , demography , population , medicine , obstetrics , geography , pregnancy , sociology , biology , philosophy , linguistics , genetics
Objective To compare the prevalence of pre‐eclampsia in migrant women with Norwegian women, and to study the prevalence of pre‐eclampsia by length of residence in Norway. Design Observational study. Setting The Medical Birth Registry of Norway. Population All Norwegian, Pakistani, Vietnamese, Somali, Sri Lankan, Filipino, Iraqi, Thai and Afghan women who gave birth after 20 weeks of gestation during the period 1986–2005 in Norway. Methods The prevalence of pre‐eclampsia was calculated by country of birth. The association of country of birth and length of residence in Norway with pre‐eclampsia was estimated as the odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI), using Norwegian women as a reference. We made adjustments for maternal age, parity, multifetal pregnancy, year of delivery and maternal diabetes in multivariable analysis. Main outcome measure Pre‐eclampsia. Results Migrant women had a lower prevalence of pre‐eclampsia than Norwegian women (2.7% versus 3.7%, P < 0.001). Vietnamese (OR, 0.36; CI, 0.29–0.45), Afghan (OR, 0.52; CI, 0.30–0.90) and Thai (OR, 0.57; CI, 0.45–0.73) women had the lowest risk of pre‐eclampsia relative to Norwegian women. Adjustment for the variables above or separate analyses for nulliparous women did not change the estimates notably. Using Norwegian women as the reference, the risk of pre‐eclampsia increased by length of residence for migrant women: adjusted OR of 0.64 (0.59–0.70) at <5 years and 0.91 (0.84–0.99) at ≥5 years of residence. Conclusions The risk of pre‐eclampsia was lower in migrants relative to Norwegian women, but increased by length of residence in Norway.