The relationship between physical activity in early pregnancy and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy: a cohort study in Chinese women

Qian Lu; Shi-Jiao Yan; Huan-Jun Chen; Xiong-Fei Pan; Yi-Xiang Ye; Xing-Yue Song; Ri-Xing Wang; Chuan-Zhu Lyu

doi:10.5847/wjem.j.1920-8642.2023.047

The relationship between physical activity in early pregnancy and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy: a cohort study in Chinese women

World J Emerg Med. 2023;14(3):204-208. doi: 10.5847/wjem.j.1920-8642.2023.047.

Authors

Qian Lu¹, Shi-Jiao Yan^{1

2}, Huan-Jun Chen¹, Xiong-Fei Pan³, Yi-Xiang Ye⁴, Xing-Yue Song⁵, Ri-Xing Wang⁵, Chuan-Zhu Lyu^{6

7}

Affiliations

¹ International School of Public Health and One Health, Hainan Medical University, Haikou 570100, China.
² Research Unit of Island Emergency Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Hainan Medical University, Haikou 570100, China.
³ Section of Epidemiology and Population Health, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Birth Defects and Related Diseases of Women and Children, West China Second University Hospital & West China Biomedical Big Data Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University; Shuangliu Institute of Women's and Children's Health, Shuangliu Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Chengdu 610041, China.
⁴ Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430000, China.
⁵ Department of Emergency, Hainan Clinical Research Center for Acute and Critical Diseases, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University, Haikou 570100, China.
⁶ Emergency Medicine Center, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610072, China.
⁷ Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Emergency and Trauma, Hainan Medical University, Haikou 570100, China.

Abstract

Background: We aimed to examine prospective associations between different intensities and different types of physical activity (PA) in early pregnancy and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) among Chinese women.

Methods: A total of 6,820 pregnant women from the Tongji-Shuangliu Birth Cohort were included in this study. The pregnancy physical activity questionnaire (PPAQ) was used to assess PA, including household/caregiving, occupational, sports/exercise, and transportation activities in the first trimester of pregnancy. The diagnosis of HDP was collected, including gestational hypertension (GH) and preeclampsia (PE). Data were analyzed by unconditional multivariate logistic regression, and the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated.

Results: A total of 178 (2.6%) of the 6,820 women were diagnosed with HDP, of which 126 (1.8%) were GH and 52 (0.8%) were PE. Overall, we found no association between PA in early pregnancy and PE. A trend toward lower risk was found only among women with GH and among those with higher levels of moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) (adjusted OR 0.54, 95% CI 0.31-0.96). No association was observed between PA and HDP in early pregnancy, regardless of different intensities or types of PA.

Conclusion: MVPA in the first trimester is an influencing factor of HDP. Encouraging pregnant women to engage in MVPA in the first trimester may help to prevent GH.

Keywords: Gestational hypertension; Physical activity; Preeclampsia; Prospective cohort study.