The relationship between body mass index and preeclampsia: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: One of the causes of maternal and fetal mortality and morbidity is pregnancy-induced hypertension, the most common form of which is preeclampsia that causes many complications for mother and fetus.
Objective: The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to determine the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and preeclampsia in Iran.
Materials and Methods: Using valid keywords in the SID database, PubMed, Scopus, data obtained from all the articles, which were reviewed in Iran between 2000 and 2016, were combined using the meta-analysis method (random-effects model) and analyzed using STATA version 11.1.
Results: A total number of 5,946 samples were enrolled in 16 studies with the mean BMI values of 25.13, 27.42, and 26.33 kg /m² in the healthy, mild, and severe preeclamptic groups, respectively.
Conclusion: The results of this study revealed that there is a significant relationship between BMI and the risk of preeclampsia, so it can be said that BMI may be one of the ways to diagnose preeclampsia.