RESUMO
The burden of illness which hypertension places on the Trinidadian population is great. In an attempt to adequately plan health care delivery we examined the relationship between pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) and essential hypertension (EH) in our country. Ninety-eight women who had been admitted to Mount Hope Women's Hospital because of a pregnancy complicated by hypertension in 1981 were recalled to evaluate their current hypertensive status. A response rate of 34.3 per cent was obtained. We looked at predictive factors contributing to the development of EH. These included age of the patient, severity of hypertension, family history of hypertension, mother's parity and birth weight of the baby. Of the 34 women who responded, twenty-three (67.6 per cent) were not hypertensive while eleven were (32.4 per cent). Neither age nor the severity of hypertension was any indication as to the subsequent development of EH. The mother's parity, a family history of hypertension and the baby's birth weight appeared to be predictors of long-term hypertension. This study did not address other predisposing factors for the development of hypertension such as smoking or obesity. Despite similarities in the two cohorts with respect to blood pressures, more babies with birth weights < 2,500g were born to mothers who subseuqently became hypertensive. PIH was a recurring problem. Seventy-three per cent of women seen (72.7 per cent) had a previous or subsequent pregnancy that was complicated by hypertension. A prospective multicentre study in Trinidad examining this relationship between PIH and EH would substantiate these preliminary findings, albeit limited by the retrospective methodology and low recall. This information would assist future health planning (AU)