Integration of suboptimal health status evaluation as a criterion for prediction of preeclampsia is strongly recommended for healthcare management in pregnancy: a prospective cohort study in a Ghanaian population

Background Normotensive pregnancy may develop into preeclampsia (PE) and other adverse pregnancy complications (APCs), for which the causes are still unknown. Suboptimal health status (SHS), a physical state between health and disease, might contribute to the development and progression of PE. By integration of a routine health measure in this Ghanaian Suboptimal Health Cohort Study, we explored the usefulness of a 25-question item SHS questionnaire (SHSQ-25) for early screening and prediction of normotensive pregnant women (NTN-PW) likely to develop PE.