Self-Guided Blood Pressure Screening in the Community: Opportunities, and Challenges

BACKGROUND: Community-based health check kiosks provide opportunities to improve the detection and long-term monitoring of hypertension. We describe the sociodemographic and cardiovascular characteristics of first-time and repeat users of these kiosks. METHOD: This was an observational study. Deidentified data collected from 430 SiSU Health consumer-facing health check stations in pharmacies across Australia between January 2018 and November 2020 were analyzed. Using a logistic regression, we identified factors associated with repeat checks in the overall cohort and in those with possible hypertension presented as adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and 95% CIs. RESULTS: A total of 982 122 unique checks were conducted; 54% (n=530 139) of the health check users were female, and the average age of all users was 38.2 (SD 16.0) years. Of those that used the kiosks, 13% used them more than once. Overall, 22% met the definition of possible hypertension, 16% (n=136 345) had blood pressure (BP) ≥140/90 mm Hg, 4% (n=34 349) had BP >160/100 mm Hg, and 13% (121 282) reported taking BP medicines. In the adjusted analysis, first-time users who were aged 50 to 69 years (aOR 0.91 [95% CI 0.87-0.96]) or ≥70 years (aOR 0.68 [95% CI 0.62-0.74]) were less likely than young users (18-29 years) to return for a second health check. Those in very remote areas were 61% (aOR 0.39 [95% CI 0.19-0.72]), and smokers were 13% less likely to return (aOR 0.87 [95% CI 0.83-0.91]). People taking BP medications were more likely to return (aOR 1.16 [95% CI 1.09-1.22]). CONCLUSIONS: Community-based health checks may identify people with high BP and could provide an option for self-monitoring. Broader implementation is needed to increase the reach in rural areas and among the elderly population.