Results of may measurement Month 2018 campaign in Venezuela.

Cardiovascular diseases, mainly coronary heart disease and stroke, are the main cause of death in Venezuela; hypertension is the primary risk factor. The May Measurement Month (MMM) study is a global initiative aimed at raising awareness of elevated blood pressure (BP). The previous MMM 2017 campaign showed 48.9% of participants had hypertension, higher than previous Venezuelan epidemiological studies. The MMM 2018 campaign included 28 649 participants screened [mean age: 54.2 (SD 15.13) years; female 62.8%] carried out mainly in pharmacies in 61 sites. Physical measurements included height, weight, and BP, taken in sitting position three times. After multiple imputations, 48.4% had hypertension, of which 87.7% were aware of their diagnosis. Of the individuals not receiving antihypertensive medication, 14.0% had hypertension and 33.7% of those receiving treatment had uncontrolled hypertension. Overall, the percentage of hypertensives with controlled hypertension was 54.8%. Body mass index was calculated for the total population, and it was on average 25.2 (SD: 4.65) kg/m2. Of all, 14.2% was classified as obese and 32.6% as overweight; meanwhile 4.8% as underweight. Diabetes was reported by 9.5%. These results suggest that repeated screening like the MMM campaign can routinely identify hypertension and consequently implement programmes of treatment in Venezuela, also other common risk factors, like obesity or diabetes

Results of the May measurement month 2017: blood pressure campaign in Venezuela-Americas.

Cardiovascular diseases, mainly coronary heart disease and stroke, are the first cause of death in Venezuela; and hypertension is the main risk factor. May Measurement Month (MMM) is a global initiative aimed at raising awareness of elevated blood pressure (BP) and to act as a temporary solution to the lack of regular screening programmes. Some representative studies indicate prevalence of hypertension in Venezuela between 24 and 39%, and control rate around 20%. Sixty-four sites were included to participate in MMM, mainly in pharmacies. Physical measurements included height, weight, and abdominal circumference. Blood pressure was measured in the sitting position three times after resting for 5 min, 1 min apart, using validated oscillometric devices. 21 644 individuals were screened. After multiple imputation, 10 584 individuals [48.9% (50.7% male; 47.7% female)] had hypertension. Of individuals not receiving antihypertensive medication, 1538 (12.2%) were hypertensive. Of individuals receiving antihypertensive medication, 2974 (32.9%) had uncontrolled BP. About 16% had obesity calculated by body mass index; 43.8% of women and 20.7% of men had abdominal obesity. This was the largest BP screening carried out in Venezuela, in which 48.9% of the individuals had elevated BP, untreated hypertension was 12.2%, and one-third of subjects taking treatment were not controlled. About 16% had obesity by body mass index, and abdominal obesity is more common in women. These results suggest that repeated screening like MMM17 can identify hypertension in important numbers and can also evaluate programmes of hypertension treatment and control in Venezuela

May measurement month 2017 campaign screening results from Venezuela: an analysis of blood pressure, abdominal circumference and body mass index

The present study had the purpose of evaluating the proportion of subjects with hypertension, treatment, control rates, and the relationship between blood pressure (BP) with body mass index and abdominal circumference in a cross-sectional study, as part of a worldwide study designed by International Society of Hypertension, performed during May 2017. After the protocol´s approval by the local Ethical Committee, 64 sites were included from eight Venezuelan regions. A short questionnaire was completed for each participant, including knowledge of taking antihypertensive treatment, diabetes, previous myocardial infarction or stroke, alcohol intake, and smoking. BP was measured in the sitting position three times after resting for 5 minutes, one minute apart, using mainly oscillometric devices. Height, weight and abdominal circumference were measured. Data analyses were performed by the MMM central team. 21644 individuals were screened. After multiple imputations, 10584 individuals [48.9% (50.7% male; 47.7% female)] had hypertension. Of subjects not receiving antihypertensive medication, 1538 (12.2%) were hypertensives. Of hypertensive individuals receiving antihypertensive medication, 2974 (32.9%) had uncontrolled BP. 15.6% of our sample had obesity according to their body mass index; 43.8% of women and 20.7% of men had abdominal obesity. BP was positively correlated with BMI and abdominal circumference. In this largest BP screening carried out in Venezuela, 48.9% of the individuals had elevated BP and 12.2% did not know that they had hypertension, and in one third of those with hypertension on treatment, BP was not controlled. 15.6% had obesity by BMI, and 35.1% abdominal obesity. Screening such as the MMM17 can evaluate the association between hypertension and obesity and therefore may help to inform control programs

Auditory event-related potentials are related to cognition at preschool age after very preterm birth.

Background:Auditory event-related potentials (AERP) are neurophysiological correlates of sound perception and cognitive processes. Our aim was to study in very preterm born children at preschool age if AERP correlate with cognitive outcome.Methods:Seventy children (mean ± SD gestational age 27.4 ± 1.9 wk, birth weight 996 ± 288 g) were investigated at age 4.3-5.3 y with psychological testing (WPPSI-R, four subtests of NEPSY). Electroencephalogram was recorded while they listened to a repeated standard tone, randomly replaced by one of three deviants. Latencies and amplitudes for AERP components and mean amplitudes in successive 50-ms AERP time windows were measured.Results:Better cognitive test results and higher gestational age correlated with shorter P1 latencies and more positive mean amplitudes 150-500 ms after stimulus change onset. Neonatal brain damage was associated with a negative displacement of AERP curves. Neonatal morbidity had an impact on earlier time windows while gestational age and brain damage on both early and later time windows.Conclusion:AERP measures were associated with cognitive outcome. Neonatal morbidity mainly affects early cortical auditory encoding, while immaturity and brain damage additionally influence higher cortical functions of auditory perception and distraction. Perinatal auditory environment might play a role in development of auditory processing.Pediatric Research (2015); doi:10.1038/pr.2015.7