Why the study?
Elevated blood pressure remains the single biggest risk factor contributing to global disease and mortality, prompting an annual screening campaign to improve individual and population-level awareness.
Population
1 508 130 adults (≥18 years) recruited through opportunistic sampling in 92 countries
Design
Global cross-sectional screening survey
Authors
Discussion
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Member takes
Implication
Highlights untreated hypertension in 23% screened; supports expanded awareness campaigns but leaves outcome impact open.
Key Points
- To evaluate blood pressure awareness and determine rates of hypertension diagnosis, treatment, and control across a global adult population.
- Opportunistic screening of 1,508,130 adults (≥18 years) across sites in 92 countries during May 2019, recording lifestyle factors, comorbidities, and up to three blood pressure measurements.
- Hypertension was defined as systolic blood pressure ≥140 mm Hg, diastolic blood pressure ≥90 mm Hg (mean of second and third readings), or taking antihypertensive medication, analyzed using multiple imputation and mixed-effects models.
- Of 1,508,130 screenees, 32.0% (n=482,273) had never previously had a blood pressure reading, and 34.0% (n=513,337) had hypertension.
- Among individuals with hypertension, 58.7% were aware of their condition, 54.7% were receiving antihypertensive medication, and only 31.7% achieved blood pressure control (<140/90 mm Hg).
- Among participants on treatment, 57.8% were controlled to <140/90 mm Hg and 28.9% to <130/80 mm Hg, while 23.3% of all screenees (n=350,825) had untreated or inadequately treated hypertension.
Structured PICO
P
Population
1,508,130 adults (≥18 years) recruited through opportunistic sampling at sites in 92 countries
I
Intervention
Blood pressure screening (May Measurement Month 2019 campaign)
O
Outcome
Prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension
The May Measurement Month 2019 campaign highlights a massive global burden of undiagnosed and inadequately treated hypertension, reinforcing the critical need for systematic screening programs.
Cite This Study
Schutte et al. (2020) studied this question.