title: Anthropometric predictors of gestational hypertensive disorders in a remote aboriginal community: a nested case-control study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Australian Aboriginal women tend to have body shape and pregnancy risk profiles different from other Australian women. This study aims to examine the associations of anthropometric indices with gestational hypertensive disorders (GHD), and to determine the index that can best predict the risk of this condition occurring during pregnancy.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a nested case-control study. Baseline body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) were measured as part of a broader health screening program between 1992 and 1995 in a remote Aboriginal community. All subsequent pregnancies among the original participants were identified during 20 year follow-up period through hospital records (up to May 2012). Twenty eight women were diagnosed as having GHD, each of whom were individually matched by age at baseline with five women who were hospitalised for other pregnancy-related conditions and were free from GHD (n = 140). The associations of the baseline anthropometric measurements with GHD were assessed using conditional logistic regression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The best predictor of GHD was WC (OR = 1.8; (95% CI, 1.1-2.9) for one standard deviation increase in WC), followed by BMI with the corresponding OR = 1.7 (95% CI, 1.1- 2.6). Other measurements, HC, WHR, and WHtR, were also positively associated with GHD, but those associations were not statistically significant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  WC and BMI prior to pregnancy are anthropometric predictors of GHD in Aboriginal women, and WC is the best predictor. These findings imply the importance of early weight control in preventing GHD in Aboriginal women.
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, University of Queensland, Postal address: Centre for Chronic diseases, Health Sciences Building, Royal Brisbane and Women Hospital, Herston, QLD 4029, Australia. m.sina@uq.edu.au.
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sina
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hoy
authors.forename: Zhiqiang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000886:Anthropometry; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D046110:Hypertension, Pregnancy-Induced / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D038801:International Classification of Diseases; D016015:Logistic Models; D011247:Pregnancy; D011379:Prognosis; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012307:Risk Factors; D055105:Waist Circumference; D049629:Waist-Hip Ratio; D055815:Young Adult