May measurement month 2017: Results from Taiwan-East Asia.
File(s)
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Elevated blood pressure (BP) is a growing burden worldwide, leading to over 10 million deaths each year. May Measurement Month (MMM) is a global initiative aimed at raising awareness of high BP and to act as a temporary solution to the lack of screening programs worldwide. Given the consistent 30% unawareness rate across all hypertension surveys in Taiwan, we collaborated with the International Society of Hypertension to launch the MMM campaign. An opportunistic cross-sectional survey of volunteers aged ≥18 was carried out in May 2017. Blood pressure measurement, the definition of hypertension and statistical analysis followed the standard MMM protocol. Over 1200 community pharmacies joined in this campaign, where participants were recruited to obtain BP measurements using automated oscillometric sphygmomanometers. Triplicate BP readings of right or left brachial artery were obtained after sitting for 10 min. A total of 52 514 individuals were screened during MMM17. After multiple imputation, 28 123 (53.8%) had hypertension. Of individuals not receiving antihypertensive medication, 5226 (17.8%) were hypertensive. Of individuals receiving antihypertensive medication, 8121 (35.7%) had uncontrolled BP. As compared with underweight individuals, adjusted systolic BP and diastolic BP raised by 6.1 and 4.1 mmHg, respectively, in overweight ones; while by 9.4 and 5.6 mmHg, respectively, in obese ones. May Measurement Month(MMM)17 was the largest BP screening campaign undertaken in Taiwan. The substantial numbers of unidentified and uncontrolled hypertensive patients, though lower than prior surveys in Taiwan, are challenging. Whether the continued MMM campaign would raise hypertension awareness at the national level awaits verification.
Date Issued
2019-04
Date Acceptance
2019-02-15
Citation
European Heart Journal Supplements, 2019, 21 (Suppl D), pp.D115-D117
ISSN
1520-765X
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Start Page
D115
End Page
D117
Journal / Book Title
European Heart Journal Supplements
Volume
21
Issue
Suppl D
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2019.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oup.com
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oup.com
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31043896
PII: suz073
Subjects
Cardiovascular System & Hematology
1102 Cardiorespiratory Medicine and Haematology
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
England
Date Publish Online
2019-04-24