Prevalence of the number of pre-gestational diagnoses and trends in the United States in 2006 and 2016

There is a trend in reproductive-aged women to live with more chronic conditions, likely resulting in pregnancies complicated by one or more pre-gestational diagnoses. The objective of this study is to determine the prevalence of women with pre-gestational diagnoses and pregnancy-related complications, and assess the trends of pre-gestational diagnoses between two time-points, ten-years apart from 2006 to 2016.

We abstracted pregnant patients from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project’s National Inpatient Sample by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in 2006 and 2016. We classified diagnosis codes, ICD 9 for 2006 and ICD 10 for 2016, as pre-gestational diagnoses or as pregnancy-related complications. Descriptive statistics were presented as frequencies and proportions for categorical variables. Chi-square analysis was performed. All statistical analyses were two-sided and p-value < .05 was considered to be statistically significant.

Between 2006 and 2016, the percentage of patients with at least one pre-gestational diagnoses increased from 35.3% in 2006 to 53.8% in 2016 (p < .0001) and the percentage of patients with at least one pregnancy-related complication increased from 62.6% to 69.1% (p < .0001). We found a trend of increasing pregnancy-related complications with an increasing number of pre-gestational diagnoses. The prevalence of asthma and obesity, either alone or in combination were found to rise over the ten-year time span.

The percent of patients entering pregnancy with any pre-gestational diagnosis has increased, along with the number of pregnancy-related complications. Future research is needed to understand the effects of these diagnoses in combination and the possible impact on pregnancy outcomes.