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Research Question of Hypertension

Name: Linda Holmes

October 19, 2021

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Research Question of Hypertension

What is the Health Literacy for Hypertension in Pregnancy among Women Attending

Antenatal Services?

Reasons for Choosing the Research Question

The topic of hypertension in pregnancy is essential for solving health problems and as an

academic requirement. The research question integrates pregnancy with the hypertension concepts:

the signs and symptoms, medications, and demographic factors (Abalos et al., 2018). Many

journals emphasize the importance of preventing the development of hypertension in pregnancy

and are fascinating. It then explores on literature review, which is the knowledge on signs and

symptoms of hypertension in pregnancy, the adherence to medication, and the risk factors for

hypertension in pregnancy which are the gaps in the research.

Type of Research which is Suitable

In answering the research question, selecting the research type is essential. There is a need

to be clear, precise, and concise. The research process in exploring the research question will be

suitable to apply the quantitative research approach. The quantitative approach is essential in the

collection, quantification, and analysis of the data. Systematic sampling is applicable. The process

entails the provision of questionnaires to the women. The responses represent the level of

knowledge on hypertension in pregnancy.

Literature Review

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The literature review focuses on hypertension awareness and the concepts. The essential

information is the signs and symptoms of hypertension in pregnancy, awareness, medication

compliance, and the associated maternal factors. High blood pressure (without proteinuria),

preeclampsia (with proteinuria), and eclampsia or preeclampsia with seizures are the three types of

gestation hypertension that emerge after twenty weeks of pregnancy in a mother who previously

had normal blood pressure (Behrens et al., 2017). The woman has to elaborate on the symptoms of

hypertension in pregnancy to show awareness. The severity of the clinical symptoms varies.

Severe hypertension raises the mother's chance of a heart attack, sudden cardiac death,

cardiovascular accident, and kidney failure, as well as the fetus's risk of preterm birth and

insufficient oxygen exchange across the membrane (George et al., 2016). Because wellbeing

behavior is related to lower occurrence of hypertension in pregnancy, maternal characteristics

influence the development of hypertensive diseases in pregnancy, those with primary education are

more cognizant of hypertension than those without primary education in most parts of the world,

according to reports (Hoeltzenbein et al., 2018). Education promotion increases knowledge on

hypertension. Many women are unaware of the risks of maternal factors, which makes it a gap.

Discussion and Integration of various Literature

World Health Organization report is that information on the signs and symptoms of

hypertensive disorders in pregnancy is essential to pregnant women attending antenatal clinics like

leaflets and health talk, which helps seek medical help early to prevent complications (Webster et

al., 2019). Many pregnant women are unaware of the signs and symptoms of hypertension in

pregnancy. The essence is to encourage early management of the complications. Hypertension

medications compliance during pregnancy is essential to avoid maternal and fetal complications

and promote good fetal and maternal outcomes (Hughson et al., 2018). However, most pregnant

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women do not adhere to hypertension medications due to fear of side effects and difficulty

adjusting to the new lifestyle changes, including diet modification and exercises. (Ishikawa et al.,

2018). Awareness of the medications improves the level of knowledge on hypertension in

pregnancy.

As per WHO 2018, Non-adherence has also been associated with poor understanding of the

condition, seeing the condition improving, or the health deterioration (Ouasmani et al., 2018).

Adequate counseling on the use of hypertension medications during pregnancy promotes

adherence to drugs. Level of education, income, and age are associated with the development of

hypertensive disorders in pregnancy, while religion is not significantly related to hypertensive

disorders in pregnancy (Stuart et al., 2018). The education and the awareness of signs and

symptoms help reduce the chances of developing hypertension in pregnancy.

Conclusion

The improvement of the knowledge on hypertension in pregnancy is key to reducing

maternal and fetal problems. A small percentage of women are unaware of hypertension's signs

and symptoms in pregnancy and risk factors, particularly maternal factors. The knowledge on

medication and adherence is also deficient. The identifiable gaps are crucial and form the basis for

exploration by the research study. Awareness of all the factors of hypertension in pregnancy is

critical to improving the level of knowledge.

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References

Abalos, E., Duley, L., Steyn, D. W., & Gialdini, C. (2018). Antihypertensive drug therapy for mild

to moderate hypertension during pregnancy. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews,

(10).

Behrens, I., Basit, S., Melbye, M., Lykke, J. A., Wohlfahrt, J., Bundgaard, H., ... & Boyd, H. A.

(2017). Risk of post-pregnancy hypertension in women with a history of hypertensive

disorders of pregnancy: nationwide cohort study. bmj, 358, j3078.

George, M., George, N., & Ramesh, N. (2016). Pregnancy-induced hypertension among antenatal

women attending outpatient departments in a rural hospital. Hindu, 142, 94-7.

Hoeltzenbein, M., Fietz, A. K., Kayser, A., Zinke, S., Meister, R., Weber-Schoendorfer, C., &

Schaefer, C. (2018). Pregnancy outcome after first-trimester exposure to bisoprolol: an

observational cohort study. Journal of hypertension, 36(10), 2109-2117.

Hughson, J. A., Marshall, F., Daly, J. O., Woodward-Kron, R., Hajek, J., & Story, D. (2018).

Health professionals' views on health literacy issues for culturally and linguistically diverse

women in maternity care: barriers, enablers and the need for an integrated

approach. Australian Health Review, 42(1), 10-20

Ishikawa, T., Obara, T., Nishigori, H., Miyakoda, K., Ishikuro, M., Metoki, H., ... & Kuriyama, S.

(2018). Antihypertensives prescribed for pregnant women in Japan: Prevalence and timing

determined from a database of health insurance claims. Pharmacoepidemiology and drug

safety, 27(12), 1325-1334.

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Nzelu, D., Dumitrascu-Biris, D., Kay, P., Nicolaides, K. H., & Kametas, N. A. (2018). Severe

hypertension, preeclampsia, and small for gestational age in women with chronic

hypertension diagnosed before and during pregnancy. Pregnancy hypertension, 14, 200-

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Ouasmani, F., Engeltjes, B., Rahou, B. H., Belayachi, O., & Verhoeven, C. (2018). Knowledge of

hypertensive disorders in pregnancy of Moroccan women in Morocco and the Netherlands:

a qualitative interview study. BMC pregnancy and childbirth, 18(1), 344.

Stuart, J. J., Tanz, L. J., Missmer, S. A., Rimm, E. B., Spiegelman, D., James-Todd, T. M., & Rich-

Edwards, J. W. (2018). Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and maternal cardiovascular

disease risk factor development: an observational cohort study. Annals of internal

medicine, 169(4), 224-232.

Webster, L. M., Reed, K., Myers, J. E., Burns, A., Gupta, P., Patel, P., ... & Chappell, L. C. (2019).

Quantifying adherence to antihypertensive medication for chronic hypertension during

pregnancy. PreStuart, J. J., Tanz, L. J., Missmer, S. A., Rimm, E. B., Spiegelman, D.,

James-Todd, T. M., & Rich-Edwards, J. W. (2018). Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy

and maternal cardiovascular disease risk factor development: an observational cohort

study. Annals of internal medicine, 169(4), 224-232.pregnancy Hypertension, 17, 12-14.