May Measurement Month 2023: results of an opportunistic blood pressure screening campaign in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Abstract

The May Measurement Month (MMM) campaign was conducted in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2023 to raise awareness of raised blood pressure (BP). This article reports the results of the campaign.

Adults aged ≥18 years were recruited through convenience sampling at in Kinshasa and Bukavu. Three seated BP readings were taken on each participant, and a questionnaire collected information on demographics, lifestyle factors, and comorbidities. Hypertension was defined as a systolic BP ≥140mmHg or diastolic BP ≥90mmHg or being on BP-lowering medication. Controlled BP was defined as being on BP-lowering medication with a BP <140/90mmHg. Multiple imputation was used to estimate missing BP readings. In total, 7,128 adults were screened, with a mean age of 38.9 years and 56.6% were female. Of all participants, 1,584 (22.2%) had hypertension, of whom 650 (41.0%) were aware, and 519 (32.8%) were on antihypertensive medication. Of those on antihypertensive medication, 172 (33.1%) had controlled BP, and of all participants with hypertension, 10.9% had controlled BP. The MMM23 campaign in the Democratic Republic of the Congo identified a substantial number of participants with untreated or inadequately treated hypertension. These findings support sustaining and expanding MMM nationwide.