Utilization of Health Care Services of Pregnant Women Complicated by Preeclampsia in Ontario

Objective: To assess the utilization of health care services by pregnant women affected by preeclampsia (PE). Design: Population-based study. Setting: Perinatal partnership hospitals in Ontario. Population: Obstetric deliveries in 2005 Canadian province of Ontario (about 95% of births). Methods: For each PE case, four subjects without PE matched by age, parity, plurality, and hospital at childbirth were chosen as the controls. We compared the utilization of intra-partum care services and infant outcomes between the two groups. We also estimated the extra costs to the health care system in Ontario for caesarean delivery and caring of extremely low birth weight infants attributable to PE during the neonatal period and in the first 2 years of life. Main Outcome Measures: Cesarean delivery, hospital stay, extremely low birth weight infants, cost. Results: Of the 120,611 obstetric deliveries included in this analysis, 1240 (1.3%) were diagnosed with PE. Patients with PE and matched controls were similar in mat...