A meta-analysis of maternal dietary patterns and preeclampsia

Abstract

Summary Background Preeclampsia is one form of hypertensive disorders, responsible for severe morbidity, long-term disability and maternal and newborn mortality worldwide. Studies have assessed the role of diet on the risk of preeclampsia using various dietary patterns, however, the association between dietary pattern and the risk of preeclampsia is not entirely clear. This study aimed to determine the association between maternal dietary patterns and the risk of preeclampsia through a meta-analysis of observational studies. Methods Electronic literature was searched in 3 databases, including PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science, for articles published up to November 2020 that examined the association between dietary patterns and preeclampsia. Only studies considered observational were included. Two authors independently performed study selection and data extraction. Pooled effect sizes of eligible studies were estimated by using random-effects models for healthy diet patterns and fixed-effects models for western diet patterns. Results A total of 12 articles reporting 25 studies were selected for this study. Results from 11 articles reporting 22 studies were pooled. Healthy dietary patterns (16 studies) and western dietary pattern (6 studies) were identified. Higher adherence to a healthy dietary pattern was significantly associated with a reduced risk of preeclampsia (OR (95% CI): 0.79 (0.73-0.85), I2 = 57.2%, P = 0.009), and a significant association between higher adherence to a western dietary pattern and the increased risk of preeclampsia was found (OR (95% CI): 1.14 (1.02-1.25), I2 = 27.0%, P = 0.232). Conclusion The results suggest that adherence to dietary pattern high in vegetables, fruit, fish, whole grains and low in meat, processed food and sugar-sweetened foods has a significant potential to reduce the risk of preeclampsia in women. Furthermore, the subgroup analysis suggested that the association between healthy diet pattern and the risk of preeclampsia in the studies that assessed dietary between the first and second trimester was not significant.