Race, Not Linked to Timely Treatment of Peripartum HTN

However, Black, Asian, Hispanic women are all more likely than White women to experience severe hypertension requiring treatment

Among women who experience severe hypertension during delivery admission requiring treatment, the rate of timely treatment does not vary with race, according to a study published in the December issue of The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety.

John A. Ozimek, D.O., from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, and colleagues identified women who experienced severe hypertension during delivery admission. For each case, the record was reviewed to determine whether treatment was timely (within 30 minutes). The rates of severe peripartum hypertension and timely versus non-timely treatment were compared by race/ethnicity.

The researchers identified 12,069 deliveries from April 1, 2019, to March 31, 2021; 684 women (5.7 percent) had at least one episode of severe hypertension, and of these women, 241 did not require treatment and 443 required treatment (35.2 and 64.8 percent, respectively).

Overall, 441 women received treatment; 94.6 percent received treatment in a timely manner. Compared with White women, Black, Asian, and Hispanic women were all more likely to experience severe hypertension requiring treatment (10.0, 8.8, and 7.3 percent, respectively, versus 4.0 percent).

The rates of timely treatment did not differ significantly between the groups (92.6, 93.0, 93.9, and 96.3 percent, respectively).

“The fact that Black women were more likely to experience hypertension than White women was not unexpected, and we know that is due to a variety of complex factors,” Ozimek said in a statement. “But what we saw was timeliness of treatment for severe hypertension didn’t differ between the groups, which is so important.”

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