Impact of Covid-19 on the Prevalence, Awareness and Control of Hypertension in Greece: May Measurement Month Survey 2019 vs 2022

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic appeared to have an adverse impact on the management of cardiovascular risk factors. This study investigated the prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension in the adult population in Greece before and after the COVID-19 pandemic (2019 and 2022) in the context of the May Measurement Month (MMM) global survey initiated by the International Society of Hypertension (ISH). Design and method: Adult volunteers were recruited through opportunistic screening in public areas in several cities of Greece in 2019 and 2022. Information on medical history and triplicate sitting blood pressure (BP) measurements were obtained using validated automated upper-arm cuff devices with appropriate cuff size. Data were uploaded to an international online platform. Hypertension was defined as systolic BP >=140 mmHg and/or diastolic >=90 mmHg, and/or self-reported use of drugs for hypertension. The same threshold was used for the definition of uncontrolled hypertension in treated individuals. Results: The MMM survey collected data from 5,727 adults in 2019 and 6,353 in 2022. The characteristics of the participants in 2019/2022 were: men 46/49%, p<0.01; mean age 52.7±16.6/54.8±16.2, p<0.001; smokers, 24.7/30.5, p<0.001; diabetic 12/11.5%, p=NS; history of cardiovascular disease 5/5.8%, p=NS). The prevalence of hypertension was 41.6/42.6% (2019/2022, p=NS). Among patients with hypertension, 21.3/27.5% (2019/2022, p<0.001) were unaware of their condition, 5.6/2.4% were aware but untreated (p<0.001), 24.8/22.1% were treated but uncontrolled (p<0.05), and 48.3/47.8% were treated controlled (p=NS). Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic did not significantly affect the prevalence and the control of hypertension in the general population in Greece. However, the rate of undiagnosed hypertension was increased after the pandemic.