title: Pregnancy-Related Hypertensive Disorders and Immigrant Status: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Epidemiological Studies.
abstract: Immigrants are often considered a vulnerable population. Paradoxically, some researchers have reported lower risk of pregnancy-related hypertension (PRH) among immigrants when compared to their non-immigrant counterparts. The lack of consistency and the absence of a synthesis of studies investigating the associations between immigration status and PRH represent a gap in our understanding of socioecological roots of PRH. Of studies published in during the study period, 16 met the inclusion criteria. For each study, we computed relative risks that compared PRH risk by migrant status. The pooled estimate of the relative risk of PRH represented a statistically significantly lower risk among immigrants (RR = 0.74; 95 % CI 0.67, 0.82). The body of evidence indicates that immigrant status is generally associated with reduced risk of PRH. However the strength of this association could vary by country of origin of immigrants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Women Children and Family Health Science, College of Nursing, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL, USA. mmogos@uic.edu.
authors.forename: Mulubrhan F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Mogos
authors.affiliation: Department of Community and Family Health, College of Public Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Abraham A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Salinas-Miranda
authors.affiliation: Department of Family and Community Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Jason L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Salemi
authors.affiliation: Familias Unidas International, Inc., Miami, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Imelda M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Medina
authors.affiliation: Department of Family and Community Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Hamisu M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Salihu
mesh_terms: D002908:Chronic Disease; D004461:Eclampsia / Q000208:ethnology*; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000208:ethnology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012307:Risk Factors
keywords: Country of birth; Eclampsia; Gestational hypertension; Immigration; Meta-analysis; Preeclampsia; Pregnancy-related hypertension