Optimising personalised pre-eclampsia screening in an ethnically-diverse
population
Abstract
Objective: To compare pre-eclampsia (PE) risk strategies among
Black vs. White ethnicity women. Design: Prospective
non-intervention cohort studies. Setting: Maternity hospitals,
United Kingdom and Europe. Population: Singleton pregnancies
delivering at ≥24 weeks, without major anomalies. Methods: PE
risk was determined by National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
(NICE) guidance, NICE guidance modified adding Black ethnicity as a
moderate-risk factor, and the Fetal Medicine Foundation (FMF)
competing-risks multivariable model. To compare model performance, the
FMF screen-positive rate (SPR) was adjusted to match NICE.
Results: At 11-13 weeks, screening for preterm PE risk occurred
in 61,174 pregnancies; 493 (0.8%) developed preterm PE. At SPR=11.2%,
FMF (vs. NICE) almost doubled the DR for preterm PE for Black (88.0%)
vs. White (66.4%) women, but DR increased more among Black women
(14.7%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 5.6-23.6). For NICE-modified,
the preterm PE DR increased (85.2%), similar to FMF (89.6%), but SPR
was higher (59.6% vs. 27.7%, respectively). At 35-36 weeks, screening
for subsequent PE occurred in 29,035 pregnancies; 654 (2.3%) developed
PE. At SPR=10.9%, FMF (vs. NICE) more than doubled the DR for
subsequent PE, and DR increased more among Black vs. White women
(12.1%, 95% CI 1.9-22.3). For NICE-modified, the PE DR increased
(85.0%), similar to FMF (74.8%), but SPR was higher (59.1% vs.
17.6%, respectively). Conclusions: The FMF competing-risks
models increased the DR for PE, particularly amongst Black women. While
DRs similar to FMF were seen with addition to NICE of Black ethnicity as
a moderate-risk factor, SPR was two-to-three times higher.