RESUMO

Hypertension continues to be the leading cause of death and disability in the industrialized world, with a high level of unawareness and unacceptably poor control rates. Therefore, the Argentinian Society of Hypertension, in association with the May Measurement Month (MMM) charity, implemented an awareness campaign during May 2021. A voluntary cross-sectional survey was carried out during the month of May 2021 in public spaces and health centres across 29 cities in Argentina. Hypertension was defined as systolic blood pressure (BP) ≥ 140 mmHg and/or diastolic BP ≥ 90 mmHg based on the mean of the second and third of three BP measurements or in those volunteers on treatment for high BP. Statistical analysis including multiple imputation followed the MMM protocol. A total of 26 070 individuals (average age 53.4 years, 14 816 women and 11 254 men) were evaluated. The age- and sex-standardized mean BP was 125.1/77.6 mmHg. Of all participants, 54.4% had hypertension. Although 79.8% of the hypertensive participants were aware of their condition and 76.9% were on antihypertensive treatment, only 42.5% of all individuals with hypertension had their BP controlled (<140/90 mmHg). Of those on antihypertensive medication, 55.3% were controlled. The low level of hypertension control highlights the critical need for community-based prevention strategies to increase the awareness and control of hypertension, thereby reducing the enormous health burden attributed to this condition.

RESUMO

The Argentinean Society of Hypertension, in agreement with the May Measurement Month (MMM) initiative of the International Society of Hypertension, implemented for the third consecutive year a hypertension screening campaign. A volunteer cross-sectional survey was carried out in public spaces and health centres during the month of May 2019 across 33 cities in Argentina. Hypertension was defined as systolic blood pressure (BP) ≥140 mmHg and/or diastolic BP ≥90 mmHg based on the mean of the second and third BP measurements, or in those on treatment for high BP. A total of 94 523 individuals (53.9 ± 17.8 years old, 55 231women and 39 292 men), were evaluated. The age and sex standardized mean BP was 124.7/77.2 mmHg. Among participants, 34.7% were overweight (25-29.9 m/kg2) and 28.7% had obesity (≥30 m/kg2). Individuals identified as being overweight had BP 3/2 mmHg higher and individuals with obesity 6/4 mmHg higher than those with normal weight. The prevalence of hypertension was 52.5%. Although 81.1% were aware and 77.7% were on antihypertensive treatment, only 46.0% of all individuals with hypertension had their BP controlled. Moreover, 19.8% of those not on any antihypertensive medication were found with raised BP. The low level of control of hypertension generates the critical need for the development of community-based prevention strategies reinforcing strategies to increase the awareness and control of hypertension.

RESUMO

Hypertension is a growing concern worldwide, causing over 10 million deaths each year. The prevalence of high blood pressure (BP) in Argentina is 36.3% and 38% of these are unaware of their disease. Half of the hypertensive patients are on pharmacological treatment and only a quarter of them are controlled. The International Society of Hypertension initiated the May Measurement Month (MMM) as a global campaign to raise awareness on high BP that may also serve as a temporary solution to the lack of global screening programs worldwide. A volunteer cross-sectional survey was carried out in May 2017 across 56 health centres. Blood pressure measurement, definition of hypertension and statistical analysis followed the MMM protocol. For this awareness campaign, the Argentine Society of Hypertension coined the slogan: 'Know and control your blood pressure'. A total of 32 346 individuals aged at least 18 years were screened during MMM17. After imputation, 16 263 (50.4%) were hypertensive. Of the 12 156 receiving antihypertensive medication 5400 (44.4%) still had uncontrolled BP. MMM17, called in our country 'Know and control your blood pressure', was the largest BP screening campaign done in Argentina. Almost 6 out of 10 hypertensive patients were either not on treatment or were not controlled to the BP goal. These results suggest that appropriate screening can help to identify a significant number of people with high BP.

Assuntos