May Measurement Month 2018: an analysis of blood pressure screening results from United Arab Emirates

Abstract

Hypertension is one of the most important modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular disease and death even in high-income countries. According to the PURE Study, globally only half of hypertensives are aware and less than a fifth controlled. May Measurement Month (MMM) is a global campaign to raise awareness and screen for high blood pressure (BP) in lieu of formal screening. United Arab Emirates (UAE) has taken part in MMM since its inception and here data from MMM18 are reported. Trained volunteers from 54 sites screened 31 316 individuals from all the Emirates of UAE using convenience sampling. Blood pressure measurement, the definition of hypertension, and statistical analysis followed the standard MMM protocol. The mean age was 36.8 ± 11.4 years and 18 411(59%) were male. Participants of Arab descent were 11 829 (38%) and 11 569 (37%) were South Asian. Mean body mass index was 26.8 ± 5.29 kg/m2. Of those screened, 7 917 (25%) had never had a BP recorded, while 16 892 (54%) had recorded BP in the previous year. After imputation, 6 243 (20%) had hypertension. Of those participants, only 2 540 (41%) were aware and 2 331 (37%) were on antihypertensive medication, of which 61% were controlled. Of all hypertensives, only 23% were controlled. May Measurement Month in UAE expanded significantly compared to 2017. A quarter had never had BP measured and awareness of hypertension low (41%). This opportunistic screening method found a substantial number of adults with untreated or inadequately treated hypertension.

Prevalence, Awareness, Treatment, and Control of Hypertension in the United Arab Emirates: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…After removing 176 duplicates and 602 irrelevant articles through the EndNote (Clarivate, Philadelphia, PA, USA) reference manager, a total of 310 records were screened using their titles and abstracts. Then, a full-text assessment of 50 potentially relevant articles resulted in 15 studies that fulfilled the eligibility criteria and that were included in the systematic review and meta-analysis [ 7 , 8 , 10 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 ] ( Figure 1 ). Articles excluded for several reasons are shown in Supplemental Table S2 .…”

“…All the studies included in the study were published between 1995 [ 28 ] and 2020 [ 14 ]. Sample sizes range from 74 [ 24 ] to 50,138 [ 13 ], totaling 139,907 participants.…”

“…Sample sizes range from 74 [ 24 ] to 50,138 [ 13 ], totaling 139,907 participants. All the studies were cross-sectional [ 7 , 8 , 10 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 ] and were conducted in community settings [ 7 , 8 , 10 , 13 , 22 , 23 , 25 , 27 , 28 ]. The majority of the studies were conducted in the general public [ 7 , 8 , 10 , 13 , 14 , 20 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 27 , 28 ], and some studies exclusively on South Asian immigrants [ 15 ] and men [ 21 ], including UAE citizens [ 26 ].…”

“…Individual studies have shown variation in the prevalence of hypertension in the UAE. For example, Hajat et al [ 13 ] and Yousufali et al [ 14 ] reported a prevalence rate of 23.1% and 52%, respectively.…”

“…Information on hypertension prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control is necessary to provide a baseline for monitoring, and for the development of new strategies for improving, hypertension control and resource planning. Although the early prevention of and screening for hypertension is necessary, there is evidence that suggests that there is poor disease awareness and BP control in the UAE [ 14 , 15 , 16 ]. Despite individual studies on adults in the UAE, there has been no comprehensive study on hypertension prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control.…”