Nutrition, Metabolism, and Cardiovascular Diseases · Oct 20, 2026

Hypertension care cascade and cardiometabolic risk-factor burden among adults screened in Sierra Leone: May Measurement Month 2023

By Foray FM, Williams CEE, Jegede OG et al.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: To describe hypertension and care-cascade indicators among adults screened during May Measurement Month (MMM) 2023 and examine whether a count of cardiometabolic risk factors was associated with systolic blood pressure (SBP) differently across the SBP distribution. METHODS AND RESULTS: In this cross-sectional analysis of opportunistic screening data, 964 adults were screened and 962 had paired readings. Hypertension was present in 287 (29.8%; 95% CI, 27.0-32.8); of these, 36.6% were aware, 28.6% treated and 9.8% controlled. In 611 untreated, nonpregnant adults with complete data, linear and quantile regression related an unweighted count of five risk factors (body mass index ≥25 kg/m², physical inactivity, current smoking, weekly alcohol use and diabetes) to SBP, adjusting for age, sex, education and recruitment setting. Each additional factor was associated with 0.80 mmHg higher mean SBP (95% CI, -1.11 to 2.71). Coefficients were 1.51 mmHg at the median and 1.89 mmHg at the 75th percentile; their difference was 0.39 mmHg (95% CI, -1.93 to 2.73). Among all 797 untreated adults, including pregnant women, the mean coefficient was 1.41 mmHg (95% CI, -0.08 to 2.90) and the 75th-minus-median difference was 1.33 mmHg (95% CI, -1.63 to 2.80). CONCLUSIONS: Fewer than one in ten screened adults with hypertension had controlled blood pressure. Associations between the risk-factor count and SBP were small and imprecise, and the association was not demonstrably stronger in the upper part of the SBP distribution.

doi.org/10.1016/j.numecd.2026.105042PubMed 43015174Populations