Clusters of eclampsia in a Nigerian teaching hospital

Abstract Objective To describe the pattern of eclampsia between 1995 and 2004 at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto, northwestern Nigeria. Study design A retrospective cohort of all deliveries and eclamptics seen from 1st January 1995 to 31st December 2004. Clusters of eclampsia were identified using purely temporal scan statistics. Results Of 15,318 deliveries during the period, 657(4.29%) had eclampsia. The yearly incidence of eclampsia at the beginning of the study period (1995) was 0.39% but this had increased to 7.0% in 2004 at a background exponential rate best described by quadratic curve fitting prediction model and a forecast curve that predicts an incidence of eclampsia of at least 32.4% of total deliveries by 2009. Temporal clusters occurred in 1996, 2001 and 2003–2004. Conclusion The incidence of eclampsia is unusually high and is increasing. It has shown 3 clusters in the last 10 years.