May Measurement Month 2018: an analysis of blood pressure screening results from Bangladesh

Abstract

Elevated blood pressure (BP) is a growing burden worldwide, leading to over 10 million deaths each year. According to Non-communicable disease (NCD) Risk Factors Survey Bangladesh 2010, one-fifth (21.9%) of adults aged 25 years or more have hypertension. Almost one-third of the adult population did not have their BP measured in their lifetime in Bangladesh. National Heart Foundation of Bangladesh participated in May Measurement Month (MMM) 2018 as a part of a global initiative aimed at raising awareness of high BP and to act as a temporary solution to the lack of screening programmes nationally. An opportunistic cross-sectional survey of volunteers aged ≥18 years was carried out in May 2018. Blood pressure measurement, the definition of hypertension and statistical analysis followed the MMM protocol. Data were collected from 10 screening sites in 9 districts in Bangladesh. A total of 5208 individuals were screened during MMM18. After multiple imputation, 1750 (33.6%) had hypertension. Among the 1750 participants with hypertension, 1312 (75.0%) were aware of having hypertension. Among those that were not on antihypertensive medication, 15.2% were hypertensive and among those that were on antihypertensive medication 33.6% had uncontrolled hypertension. The present study showed that opportunistic screening can identify significant numbers of people with raised BP. A periodic public health programme at a national level needs to be initiated to increase hypertension detection and control rates and thus for prevention of cardiovascular diseases.

May Measurement Month 2021: an analysis of blood pressure screening results from Bangladesh

“…The previous three MMM campaigns showed wide variations in the percentage of hypertensive individuals and percentage of uncontrolled BP among the individuals receiving anti-hypertensive medication. In the MMM17, 47.3% were hypertensive and 52.2% uncontrolled 8 ; in the MMM18, 33.6% and 33.6% 9 ; and in the MMM19, 28.0% and 35.8%, 10 respectively. The MMM21 is the largest BP screening campaign in Bangladesh, and among the participants with hypertension and on antihypertensive medication, 66.8% had controlled BP ( Table 1 ).…”

Care Cascades for Hypertension in Low-Income Settings: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Overall, 16% of hypertensive subjects had their hypertension controlled (95% CI: 0.14–0.18). Three studies reported a control of hypertension <2% (Angola [ 27 ], Cameroon [ 41 ] and Ghana [ 49 ]), whereas two studies in Bangladesh [ 31 , 32 ], one in India [ 68 ] and two in Iran [ 78 , 80 ] found >40% of controlled hypertensive subjects. In LICs the percentage of controlled hypertension was lower than LMICs (11% vs .…”

May Measurement Month 2019: an analysis of blood pressure screening results from Bangladesh

“… 5 In MMM18, a total of 5208 individuals were screened, 33.6% had hypertension and among those who were on antihypertensive medication 33.6% had uncontrolled hypertension. 6 Differences in the proportions with hypertension and control rates in 2017 and 2018 may reflect that in MMM17 a large number of the participants were screened in community settings, whilst in MMM18 most of the participants were screened from hospital outdoor set-ups. Awareness of hypertension status among the hypertensive patients were very similar in all three MMM campaigns.…”

“…The National Heart Foundation of Bangladesh (NHFB) has been working for the control and prevention of cardiovascular diseases and co-ordinated the conduct of the two previous May Measurement Month (MMM) events in 2017 and 2018, in collaboration with government and non-government organizations throughout the country, with technical support from the International Society of Hypertension (ISH). 5 , 6 In 2019, NHFB participated in another round of MMM aimed at raising awareness of high BP and to act as a temporary solution to the lack of regular BP screening programmes in Bangladesh.…”