Patients interested in learning about preeclampsia risk, shows study

The majority of childbearing-age people would value predictive testing for preeclampsia and report they would act on this information, according to a study published online March 13 in BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth.

Alison Cowan, M.D., from Mirvie Inc. in San Francisco, and colleagues evaluated baseline sentiments on pregnancy care and medication amenability and how these measures would be impacted by early predictive testing for preeclampsia. The analysis included data from 1,022 digital survey participants.

The researchers found that 75% of respondents reported they have a “good understanding” of preeclampsia, but measured knowledge was low, with only 10% able to identify five common signs or symptoms of preeclampsia. The majority of participants (91%) wanted early pregnancy predictive testing for preeclampsia, with 88% saying if they were at high risk they would be more motivated to follow their provider’s medication recommendations and 94% saying they would desire home blood pressure monitoring.

High rates of motivation to change behavior and adhere to medication were even seen among individuals who are more medication-hesitant if predictive testing showed a high risk for preeclampsia.

“Improved detection of at-risk individuals through objective testing combined with increased adherence to their recommended care plan may be an important step to remedy the growing gap in prevention,” the authors write.

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