TY - JOUR
T1 - May Measurement Month 2017
T2 - An analysis of blood pressure screening results in Nepal - South Asia
AU - Mishra, Shiva Raj
AU - Shrestha, Nipun
AU - Poudyal, Indra Prasad
AU - Malla, Milan
AU - Gyawali, Bishal
AU - Shrestha, Aamod Dhoj
AU - Pokharel, Shashank
AU - Gyawali, Madan
AU - Sapkota, Surendra
AU - Bhattarai, Harikrishna
AU - Dhakal, Liladhar
AU - Soti, Pabitra Babu
AU - Ghimire, Sagar
AU - Paudel, Rajan
AU - Xia, Xin
AU - Beaney, Thomas
AU - Koirala, Sweta
AU - Olsen, Michael Hecht
AU - Poulter, Neil R.
AU - Kallestrup, Per
AU - Neupane, Dinesh
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology.
PY - 2019/4/1
Y1 - 2019/4/1
N2 - Hypertension is the leading risk factor of mortality in Nepal accounting for ∼33 000 deaths in 2016. However, more than 50% of the hypertensive patients are unaware of their status. We participated in the May Measurement Month 2017 (MMM17) project initiated worldwide by the International Society of Hypertension to raise the awareness on the importance of blood pressure (BP) screening. In this paper, we discuss the screening results of MMM17 in Nepal. An opportunistic cross-sectional survey of volunteers aged ≥18 years was carried out in May 2017 following the standard MMM protocol. Data were collected from 18 screening sites in 7 districts covering 5 provinces. Screenings were conducted either in health facilities, public places, or participants' homes. Trained volunteers with health science background and female community health volunteers were mobilized to take part in the screening. A total of 5972 individuals were screened and of 5968 participants, for whom a mean of the 2nd and 3rd readings was available, 1456 (24.4%) participants had hypertension; 908 (16.8%) of those not receiving treatment were hypertensive; and 248 (45.2%) of those being treated had uncontrolled BP. MMM17 is the first nationwide BP screening campaign undertaken in Nepal. Given the suboptimal treatment and control rates identified in the study, there is a strong imperative to scale up hypertension prevention, screening, and management programmes. These results suggest that opportunistic screening can identify significant numbers with hypertension. Mobilization of existing volunteer networks and support of community stakeholders, would be necessary to improve the overall impact and sustainability of future screening programmes.
AB - Hypertension is the leading risk factor of mortality in Nepal accounting for ∼33 000 deaths in 2016. However, more than 50% of the hypertensive patients are unaware of their status. We participated in the May Measurement Month 2017 (MMM17) project initiated worldwide by the International Society of Hypertension to raise the awareness on the importance of blood pressure (BP) screening. In this paper, we discuss the screening results of MMM17 in Nepal. An opportunistic cross-sectional survey of volunteers aged ≥18 years was carried out in May 2017 following the standard MMM protocol. Data were collected from 18 screening sites in 7 districts covering 5 provinces. Screenings were conducted either in health facilities, public places, or participants' homes. Trained volunteers with health science background and female community health volunteers were mobilized to take part in the screening. A total of 5972 individuals were screened and of 5968 participants, for whom a mean of the 2nd and 3rd readings was available, 1456 (24.4%) participants had hypertension; 908 (16.8%) of those not receiving treatment were hypertensive; and 248 (45.2%) of those being treated had uncontrolled BP. MMM17 is the first nationwide BP screening campaign undertaken in Nepal. Given the suboptimal treatment and control rates identified in the study, there is a strong imperative to scale up hypertension prevention, screening, and management programmes. These results suggest that opportunistic screening can identify significant numbers with hypertension. Mobilization of existing volunteer networks and support of community stakeholders, would be necessary to improve the overall impact and sustainability of future screening programmes.
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U2 - 10.1093/eurheartj/suz063
DO - 10.1093/eurheartj/suz063
M3 - Article
C2 - 31043887
AN - SCOPUS:85085070803
SN - 1520-765X
VL - 21
SP - D83-D85
JO - European Heart Journal, Supplement
JF - European Heart Journal, Supplement
ER -