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. 2024 Dec 2;9(12):e016557.
doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2024-016557.

May Measurement Month 2022: results from the global blood pressure screening campaign

Thomas Beaney #  1 , Gabriele Keziah Kerr #  2   3 , Gaia Kiru  4 , Harsha McArdle  5 , Markus Schlaich  6   7 , Aletta E Schutte  8   9 , George S Stergiou  10 , Ji-Guang Wang  11   12 , Marcos J Marin  13 , Rafael Henandez-Hernandez  14 , Alejandro Bimbo F Diaz  15 , Luis Alcocer  16 , Patricio Lopez-Jaramillo  17 , Neil Poulter  4
Affiliations

May Measurement Month 2022: results from the global blood pressure screening campaign

Thomas Beaney et al. BMJ Glob Health. .

Abstract

Introduction: Elevated blood pressure (BP) is the major contributor to mortality and disease burden worldwide. May Measurement Month (MMM) is a global BP screening campaign, which aims to raise awareness of BP measurement and provide evidence to inform and influence related health policy.

Methods: This cross-sectional survey included individuals aged≥18 years recruited through opportunistic sampling at sites in 60 countries during MMM 2022. Each participant had three sitting BP measurements and a questionnaire was completed including demographics, comorbidities and lifestyle factors. Hypertension was defined as a systolic BP≥140 mm Hg and/or a diastolic BP≥90 mm Hg (average of the second and third readings) or taking antihypertensive medication. Multiple imputation was used to estimate BP readings where any participant's BP readings were missing. Linear mixed effects models were used to identify associations between participant characteristics and systolic or diastolic BP.

Results: Of the 715 518 participants surveyed (excluding 50 200 self-measured home BP screenees recruited via the ZOE Health Study app), 257 421 (36.0%) were identified as hypertensive, of whom 57.6% were aware and 49.3% were on antihypertensive medication. Of all participants with hypertension, 26.1% were controlled to <140/90 mm Hg and 12.0% to <130/80 mm Hg. Of those taking antihypertensive medication, 52.7% were taking only one drug class, 52.9% were controlled to <140/90 mm Hg and 24.4% to 130/80 mm Hg. In total, 190 314 (26.6% of total surveyed, 73.9% of hypertensives) participants screened were found to have untreated or inadequately treated hypertension. Only 27.6% of treated hypertensive participants were taking a statin. Substantial coexistence of diabetes, overweight and hypertension was apparent among participants.

Conclusions: MMM confirms a high global burden of hypertension with low rates of awareness, treatment and control. In the absence of systematic BP screening in many countries, the results from MMM underscore the continued need for BP screening to detect and thereby control raised BP.

Keywords: Hypertension; Public Health; Screening; Treatment.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: TB, GK, HM, J-gW, MJM, RH-H, ABFD: Nothing to declare. AES is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia Investigator Grant (APP2017504). AES has received speaker fees from OMRON, Medtronic, Aktiia, Servier, Sanofi and Novartis and is an advisory board member for Skylabs and Abbott. GSS has received lecture and consultancy fees by Servier and OMRON. LA has received support from several companies which manufacture blood pressure (BP)-lowering agents, for consultancy fees and for arranging and speaking at educational meetings: Asofarma, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Bristol-Myers Squib, Daiichi Sankyo, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Menarini, Novartis, Pfizer, Sanofi-Aventis, Servier, Silanes, Stendhal and Takeda. He holds no stocks and shares in any such companies. MS has received research support from Medtronic, Abbott, ReCor and Servier Australia. He serves on scientific advisory boards for Abbott, AstraZeneca, BI, Servier, Novartis and Medtronic and has received speaker fees from Medtronic, Abbott and Merck. NP has received financial support from several pharmaceutical companies which manufacture BP-lowering agents, for consultancy fees (Servier), research projects and staff (Servier, Pfizer) and for arranging and speaking at educational meetings (AstraZeneca, LRI Therapharma, Napi, Servier, Sanofi, Eva Pharma and Pfizer). He holds no stocks and shares in any such companies. PL-J has received speaker fees from Abbott, Menarini, Megalabs and Servier. GKK is supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research Applied Research Collaboration Northwest London. The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the National Institute for Health Research or the Department of Health and Social Care.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Difference in mean blood pressure (BP) in those with each COVID-19-related factor compared with those without. Estimates are derived from linear mixed models adjusted for age, sex and antihypertensive medication use. Error bars represent 95% CIs. Analysis of COVID-19 symptom duration was done for those with a previous positive COVID-19 test only. Corresponding estimates can be found in online supplemental appendix table S18.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Difference in mean blood pressure (BP) in those with each condition compared with those without. Estimates are derived from linear mixed models adjusted for age, sex and antihypertensive medication use. Error bars represent 95% CIs. Corresponding estimates can be found in online supplemental appendix table S13.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Difference in mean blood pressure (BP) across pulse rate categories compared with a pulse rate of 60 beats per minute. Estimates are derived from linear mixed models adjusted for age, sex and antihypertensive medication use. Error bars represent 95% CIs. Corresponding estimates can be found in online supplemental appendix table S19.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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