{"title":"Prevalence of Hypertension in Ghana: Analysis of an Awareness and Screening Campaign in 2019.","authors":"Elliot Koranteng Tannor, Obed Ofori Nyarko, Yaw Adu-Boakye, Saabea Owusu Konadu, Gilda Opoku, Frank Ankobea-Kokroe, Mercy Opare-Addo, Lambert Tetteh Appiah, Evans Xorse Amuzu, Gilgal Justice Ansah, Kate Appiah-Boateng, Emmanuel Ofori, Daniel Ansong","doi":"10.1177/11795468221120092","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Hypertension is an important public health menace globally and in sub-Saharan Africa. The prevalence of hypertension is on the rise in low- and lower-middle-income countries (LMIC) such as Ghana. This rise led to the adoption of the May Measurement Month (MMM) initiative, a global blood pressure screening campaign. We aimed to create awareness and present the findings of the 2019 MMM screening campaign in the Ashanti region of Ghana.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Ghana was 1 of 92 countries that participated in this global community-based cross-sectional study in May 2019. Participants (⩾18 years) were recruited by opportunistic sampling. The blood pressures of participants were measured 3 times and the mean of the last 2 was used for the analysis. Summary statistics were used to describe the data. Simple and multiple logistic regression models were used to determine the predictors of hypertension.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We screened 3080 participants with a mean age of 39.8 ± 16.8 years. The prevalence of hypertension was 27.3% among participants. Two-thirds of the hypertensives were unaware of their condition and only 49.5% of participants with a history of hypertension on medication were controlled. Predictors of hypertension in a multiple logistic regression were increasing age (OR = 1.05 (CI 1.04-1.06), <i>P</i> < .001) and high body mass index (OR = 1.06 (1.02-1.10), <i>P</i> = .005).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The MMM initiative is highly commendable and of huge public health importance in LMICs like Ghana. Population-based health programs such as the MMM initiative is encouraged to shape appropriate public health policies to reduce the prevalence of hypertension.</p>","PeriodicalId":10419,"journal":{"name":"Clinical Medicine Insights. Cardiology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3000,"publicationDate":"2022-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/ca/1b/10.1177_11795468221120092.PMC9434666.pdf","citationCount":"2","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Clinical Medicine Insights. Cardiology","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/11795468221120092","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2022/1/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"eCollection","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"CARDIAC & CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEMS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 2
Abstract
Introduction: Hypertension is an important public health menace globally and in sub-Saharan Africa. The prevalence of hypertension is on the rise in low- and lower-middle-income countries (LMIC) such as Ghana. This rise led to the adoption of the May Measurement Month (MMM) initiative, a global blood pressure screening campaign. We aimed to create awareness and present the findings of the 2019 MMM screening campaign in the Ashanti region of Ghana.
Methods: Ghana was 1 of 92 countries that participated in this global community-based cross-sectional study in May 2019. Participants (⩾18 years) were recruited by opportunistic sampling. The blood pressures of participants were measured 3 times and the mean of the last 2 was used for the analysis. Summary statistics were used to describe the data. Simple and multiple logistic regression models were used to determine the predictors of hypertension.
Results: We screened 3080 participants with a mean age of 39.8 ± 16.8 years. The prevalence of hypertension was 27.3% among participants. Two-thirds of the hypertensives were unaware of their condition and only 49.5% of participants with a history of hypertension on medication were controlled. Predictors of hypertension in a multiple logistic regression were increasing age (OR = 1.05 (CI 1.04-1.06), P < .001) and high body mass index (OR = 1.06 (1.02-1.10), P = .005).
Conclusion: The MMM initiative is highly commendable and of huge public health importance in LMICs like Ghana. Population-based health programs such as the MMM initiative is encouraged to shape appropriate public health policies to reduce the prevalence of hypertension.