Conclusions
In women of black racial origin, compared to white women, the risk of GH is 25% higher and the risk of PE is 2-fold higher after adjustment for confounding factors in maternal characteristics and medical history. In women of South Asian origin, the risk of preterm PE is 1.5-fold higher than in white women. Accurate assessment of the contribution of different racial groups to the prediction of PE necessitates prospective examination of pregnancies and appropriate adjustment for confounders rather than meta-analyses of heterogeneous studies with no or minimal adjustment for confounders.
Acknowledgements: This study was supported by grants from the Fetal Medicine Foundation (UK Charity No: 1037116). This body had no involvement in the study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the article for publication. The search of the literature for the metanalysis was conducted by Mrs Sonya Di Giorgio, Clinical Support Librarian, King’s College London, UK.
Disclosure of interests: The authors report no conflict of interest.
Contribution to authorship: KHN and AA conceptualized and designed the study and wrote the first draft of the paper. AS and RA were involved in the sample collection for the FMF study. AA and DV carried out the systematic review of the literature and quality assessment of the selected articles. MMG conducted the statistical analysis. All authors revised and contributed to the intellectual content of the manuscript.
Details of ethics approval: The study was approved by the UK NHS Research Ethics Committee (REC reference: 02-03-033 on 11th March 2003).