Present status of clinical care for postpartum patients with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy in Japan: findings from a nationwide questionnaire survey

Abstract

Objective: To assess the present status of clinical care for postpartum patients with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) in Japan. Methods: We conducted a nationwide questionnaire survey of obstetricians, internists and hypertension specialists and analyzed 686 valid responses. Results: Though HDP is widely known as a risk factor for subsequent hypertension and cardiovascular disease, over one-third of obstetricians terminated their postpartum follow-up of HDP patients without referring them to other departments. Conclusion: It is important to establish an effective referral system, whereby patients with HDP can be smoothly transferred to primary care or a specialist physician after childbirth for long-term monitoring and management of blood pressure.

• Antihypertensive agent
• Breast feeding
• Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy
• Hypertension in pregnancy
• Postpartum hypertension

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank obstetricians and internists who responded to many questionnaire of this study. They would also like to thank Dr Julian Tang from the Department of Education for Clinical Research, NCCHD, for reviewing this manuscript.

Declaration of Interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

This study was conducted as part of the project titled “Prevention of Diabetes Mellitus and Metabolic Syndrome in Women and offspring in the view of pregnancy-associated events” funded under the FY2012 Health and Labor Sciences Research Grants from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan.