Prevention & lipidsCross-sectional study
Association of Hypertension With Health Care Access and Utilization Following Childbirth
- cross-sectional analysis
Authors' conclusion
Pregnancy-only hypertension was not linked to increased preventive care utilization, indicating missed opportunities to connect people with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy history to sustained cardiovascular disease prevention.
Study context
- Population
- Women with 1 child under age 5, 2021 and 2023 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System dataweighted population represented by the analytic sample
- Participants
- 3,175,662 women
- Exposure
- Compared with no hypertension, individuals with hypertension
Main finding
Having a personal doctor
Difference in predicted probability
9.0 pp
95% CI 2.9–15.2
hypertension vs no hypertension
difference in predicted probability 9.0 pp (95% CI 2.9–15.2)
As reported in the abstract
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
| Outcome | difference in probability (pp) (95% CI) | |
|---|---|---|
| Past-year cholesterol check · higher with hypertension | 19.8 (9.8–29.8) | |
| −2002040Difference, pp (linear scale) |
All outcomes, pregnancy-only hypertension vs no hypertension
- Pregnancy-only hypertension did not differ from no hypertension for any outcome
Personal doctor and past-year cholesterol by race and ethnicity (interaction models)
- Higher probability with hypertension for White and Black respondents but not for Hispanic respondents
Past-year checkup by race and ethnicity (interaction models)
- Higher probability with hypertension among White women only
Original publication
Association of Hypertension With Health Care Access and Utilization Following Childbirth. JACC Adv. Published 15 May 2026. doi:10.1016/j.jacadv.2026.102778
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it