Tehran University of Medical Sciences Iranian Journal of Public Health 2251-6085 50 6 2021 06 10 1266 1274 Hawawu Hussein 1. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 2. Ho Teaching Hospital, Research, Policy Coordination, Planning & Budgeting, Monitoring & Evaluation Directorate, HO, Ghana Mansour Shamsipour Department of Research Methodology and Data Analysis, Institute for Environmental Research, Tehran Uni-versity of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran AND Center for Air Pollution Research (CAPR), Institute for Environmental Research (IER), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Masud Yunesian Department of Research Methodology and Data Analysis, Institute for Environmental Research, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 2. Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Mohammad Sadegh Hassanvand Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sci-ences, Tehran, Iran 2. Global Policy and Advocacy Network (GLOOPLAN), Accra, Ghana Abraham Assan Global Policy and Advocacy Network (GLOOPLAN), Accra, Ghana Akbar Fotouhi Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 2020 07 21 2020 11 08 Background: We aimed to assess prevalence and predictors of pre-existing hypertension in pregnant women in three districts of Northern region, Ghana. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 1626 women in the third trimester of pregnancy across four antenatal centers in 2018. A questionnaire was used to collect medical information including weight and height. We used descriptive statistics to characterize all qualitative variables and performed logistic regression analyses to estimate association of hypertension and other risk factors. Results: We included 1626 women; mean age standard deviation (SD) of pregnant women was 27.4 (5.1) years. About 4.5% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.6-5.7) of pregnant women reported they had earlier been diagnosed of having hypertension by a doctor or midwife, before pregnancy. Obese pregnant women had 2.9 times increased adjusted odds of having hypertension relative to non-obese pregnant women (Odds Ratio (OR))=2.9, 95% [CI]: 1.39-5.85, P=0.004). Further, gestational diabetes was a predictor of pre-existing hypertension at an increased odds of 4.9 times relative to those without gestational diabetes (OR= 4.9, CI: 0.92-26.75, P=0.061). Women with two or more children had 3.2 times the adjusted odds of having hypertension (OR=3.2 CI: 1.59-6.69, P=0.001). Conclusion: Although the prevalence pre-existing hypertension was not too high, obesity, gestational diabetes and number of children were independent predictors of pre-existing hypertension in pregnant women. https://ijph.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijph/article/view/21558 https://ijph.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijph/article/download/21558/7262