Objectives. We studied trends of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy by residential
socioeconomic status (SES) and racial/ethnic subgroups in New York
State over a 10-year period.
Methods. We merged New York State discharge data for 2.5 million women
hospitalized with delivery from 1993 through 2002 with 2000 US Census data.
Results. Rates of diagnoses for all hypertensive disorders combined and for
preeclampsia individually were highest among Black women across all regions
and neighborhood poverty levels. Although hospitalization rates for preeclampsia
decreased over time for most groups, differences in rates between White and
Black women increased over the 10-year period. The proportion of women living
in poor areas remained relatively constant over the same period. Black and Hispanic
women were more likely than White women to have a form of diabetes
and were at higher risk of preeclampsia; preeclampsia rates were higher in these
groups both with and without diabetes than in corresponding groups of White
women.
Conclusions. An increasing trend of racial/ethnic disparity in maternal hypertension
rates occurred in New York State during the past decade. This trend was
persistent after stratification according to SES and other risk factors. Additional
research is needed to understand the factors contributing to this growing disparity.