May Measurement Month 2018: a pragmatic global screening campaign to raise awareness of blood pressure by the International Society of Hypertension

Aims Raised blood pressure (BP) is the biggest contributor to mortality and disease burden worldwide and fewer than half of those with hypertension are aware of it. May Measurement Month (MMM) is a global campaign set up in 2017, to raise awareness of high BP and as a pragmatic solution to a lack of formal screening worldwide. The 2018 campaign was expanded, aiming to include more participants and countries. Methods and results Eighty-nine countries participated in MMM 2018. Volunteers (≥18 years) were recruited through opportunistic sampling at a variety of screening sites. Each participant had three BP measurements and completed a questionnaire on demographic, lifestyle, and environmental factors. Hypertension was defined as a systolic BP ≥140 mmHg or diastolic BP ≥90 mmHg, or taking antihypertensive medication. In total, 74.9% of screenees provided three BP readings. Multiple imputation using chained equations was used to impute missing readings. 1 504 963 individuals (mean age 45.3 years; 52.4% female) were screened. After multiple imputation, 502 079 (33.4%) individuals had hypertension, of whom 59.5% were aware of their diagnosis and 55.3% were taking antihypertensive medication. Of those on medication, 60.0% were controlled and of all hypertensives, 33.2% were controlled. We detected 224 285 individuals with untreated hypertension and 111 214 individuals with inadequately treated (systolic BP ≥ 140 mmHg or diastolic BP ≥ 90 mmHg) hypertension. Conclusion May Measurement Month expanded significantly compared with 2017, including more participants in more countries. The campaign identified over 335 000 adults with untreated or inadequately treated hypertension. In the absence of systematic screening programmes, MMM was effective at raising awareness at least among these individuals at risk

May measurement month 2017: an analysis of blood pressure screening results in Georgia-Europe.

Elevated blood pressure (BP) is a growing burden worldwide, leading to over 10 million deaths each year. May Measurement Month (MMM) is a global initiative aimed at raising awareness of high BP and to act as a temporary solution to the lack of screening programmes worldwide. According to STEPS-Georgia, between 2010 and 2016, arterial hypertension prevalence (BP ≥140/90 mmHg or being treated) increased from 33.4% to 37.7%. According to the Health for All (HFA) (WHO data set) Database in Georgia in 2015 cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality contributed to 42.6% of overall deaths; among them 23.3% is due to coronary heart disease (CHD), and 30% due to cerebrovascular diseases. An opportunistic screening of volunteers aged ≥18 was carried out in May 2017 (MMM17). BP measurement, the definition of hypertension and statistical analysis followed the standard MMM protocol. Screening was carried out in 50 sites at a national scale (clinics, public places). Five hundred volunteers, mostly medical personnel took part in the project. A total of 6144 individuals were screened during MMM17. After multiple imputations, 3744 (60.9%) had hypertension. Of those not on anti-hypertensive medication, 958 (28.5%) respondents were found to have hypertension, while 1862 (66.8%) individuals receiving anti-hypertensive medication, had uncontrolled BP. MMM17 was the largest BP screening campaign undertaken in Georgia. Approximately 60% of those screened had hypertension and among those who receive medication, up to 70% are treated inadequately. These results suggest that opportunistic screening can identify a significant number of people with raised BP