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

Abstract

Hypertension remains the dominant cardiovascular risk factor worldwide. May Measurement Month (MMM) is an annual global programme of the International Society of Hypertension aimed at screening for undetected hypertension in the general population. We report the outcome of MMM 2018 in Nigeria. An opportunistic screening of adults aged at least 18 years was conducted in the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria in the month of May, 2018. Screening for hypertension was done by trained volunteers with the use of validated digital and mercury sphygmomanometers following the MMM protocol. Hypertension was defined as blood pressure (BP) ≥140/90 mmHg or the use of BP-lowering medication. There were 6398 participants (53.0% female) with a mean (SD) age of 41.7 (15.0) years. Hypertension was present in 36.4% of the participants with 51.1% of the hypertensives aware of their status, 41.8% on medication, of whom 43.1% were controlled. Overall, only 18.0% of all hypertensive participants had their BP under control. The proportion with hypertension is high, and awareness, treatment, and control rates are low. Concerted efforts are needed to improve awareness and treatment of hypertension in Nigeria in order to reduce the high rate of complications associated with uncontrolled BP.

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

“…Only 25.9% of all participants with hypertension were controlled. These figures are similar to those reported from two previous screenings in the country 2 and a recent nationwide survey. 3 May Measurement Month has remained an effective programme to detect undiagnosed hypertension in Nigeria and other parts of the world.…”

“…Sub-Saharan Africa has a pooled hypertension prevalence of 30.0%, with only 18.0% of these on treatment, out of which only 7.0% have their blood pressure (BP) controlled. 1 In the opportunistic May Measurement Month (MMM) national survey in 2018, the frequency of hypertension was 36.4%, 2 while the overall age-standardized prevalence of hypertension from another national survey was 38.1%. 3 Hypertension remains the dominant risk factor for major cardiovascular diseases like stroke, heart failure, ischaemic heart disease, and chronic kidney disease and is responsible for up to 95.0% of stroke cases.…”