Ostovar A, Sepanlou S, Shariati M, Mahdavi Hezaveh A, Yousefi E, Hodjatzadeh A, Afkar M, Pariani A, Moghisi A, Khalagi K, Najmi M, Bashti S, Aghamohammadi S, Bagherzade Yazdi M, Atefi A, Joneidi A, Barakati H, Heshmat R, Peykari N, Ranjbar M, Hammelman C, Mendis S, Pariyanzeitooni M, Mohammadi N, Noemani K, Barati H, Alborzinia R, Mirshfiee P, Khaligh N, Anvari M, Morsali A, Shirzadian A, Hasani M, Zakeri M, Alizadeh Barzian K, Azadmehr H, Ghasemi A, Delshad A, Hajiuni R, Shafieinia MA, Dolatabad M, Soltani M, Azizi A, Izadi M, Rokhshad H, Sadeghi G, Rahmani MH, Sedaghat SM, Sadeghzade H, Mirmoieni R, Golmohammadi A, Najafi Moghadam T, Ehsanzadeh A, Parvin A, Ahmadian M, Hosseinkhani R, Shadmand S, Shahrokhi F, Panje Shahi M, Shafiei Bafti M, Shahabadi S, Shaddel S, Bayat Asghari A, Talebi E, Sharafi S, Kooshki M, Asadiyan F, Sadeghi MJ, Eghbali B, Norouzinezhad G, Farrokhzad S, Mirheidari M, Nejadghaderi M, Iran Nezhad N, Mehri SM, Rahimzadeh A, Etminanbakhsh H, Dalili A, Aminforghani H, Rahbar MN, Rostampour S, Fateh M, Moradi F, Mousavi SA, Pourabazari G, Sharbafi J, Aminmanesh A, Karimi A, Sarbazi M, Farbakhsh F, Alinezhad J, Parishan Kordiani T, Dalili N, Parisay Z, Sadeghian MR, Bazishad A, Sartipi M, Seydi A, and Raeisi A
Purpose: Hypertension is one of the most important risk factors for premature mortality and morbidity in Iran. The objective of the Iranian blood pressure (BP) measurement campaign was to identify individuals with raised blood pressure and providing appropriate care and increase the awareness among the public and policymakers of the importance of tackling hypertension., Methods: The campaign was conducted in two phases. The first (communication) phase started on May 17th (International Hypertension Day). The second phase started on June 8th, 2019, and lasted up to July 7th during which, blood pressures were measured. The target population was Iranians aged ≥ 30 years. Participants voluntarily referred to health houses in rural and health posts and comprehensive health centers in urban areas in the setting of the Primary Health Care network. Additionally, over 13,700 temporary stations were set up in highly visited places in urban areas. Volunteer healthcare staff interviewed the participants, measured their BP, and provided them with lifestyle advice and knowledge of the risks and consequences of high blood pressure. They referred participants to physicians in case their BP was high. Participants immediately received a text message containing the relevant advice based on their measured BP and their past history., Results: Blood pressure was measured for a total of 26,678,394 participants in the campaign. A total of 13,722,148 participants (51.4%) were female. The mean age was 46 ± 14.1 years. Among total participants, 15,012,693 adults (56.3%) with no past history of hypertension had normal BP, 7,959,288 participants had BP in the prehypertension range (29.8%), and finally, 3,706,413 participants (13.9%) had either past medical history of hypertension, used medications, or had high BP measured in the campaign., Conclusion: The campaign was feasible with the objective to increase the awareness among the public and policymakers of the importance of tackling hypertension in Iran., Competing Interests: Competing interestsAll authors have organizational affiliation with the subdivisions of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education of Iran., (© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Tehran University of Medical Sciences 2022. Springer Nature or its licensor holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.)