This study aimed to assess the reliability of opportunistic screening programs in estimating the prevalence, treatment, and control rate of hypertension in the general population. Two recent epidemiological surveys obtained data on hypertension in the adult general population in Greece. The EMENO (2013-2016) applied a multi-stage stratified random sampling method to collect nationwide data. The MMM (2019) collected data through opportunistic (voluntary) screening in five large cities. Hypertension was defined as blood pressure (BP) ≥ 140/90 mmHg (single occasion; average of 2nd-3rd measurement; electronic devices) and/or use of antihypertensive drugs. Data from a total of 10,426 adults were analyzed (EMENO 4,699; MMM 5,727). Mean age (SD) was 49.2 (18.6)/52.7 (16.6) years (EMENO/MMM, p < 0.001), men 48.6/46.5% (p < 0.05) and body mass index 28.2 (5.7)/27.1 (5.0) kg/m

Severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is associated with increased risk of venous thromboembolism events (VTE). This study performed a systematic review in PubMed/EMBASE of studies reporting the prevalence of VTE in patients with COVID-19 who were totally screened/assessed for deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and/or for pulmonary embolism (PE). Among 47 candidate studies (

From 1985 to 2016, the prevalence of underweight decreased, and that of obesity and severe obesity increased, in most regions, with significant variation in the magnitude of these changes across regions. We investigated how much change in mean body mass index (BMI) explains changes in the prevalence of underweight, obesity, and severe obesity in different regions using data from 2896 population-based studies with 187 million participants. Changes in the prevalence of underweight and total obesity, and to a lesser extent severe obesity, are largely driven by shifts in the distribution of BMI, with smaller contributions from changes in the shape of the distribution. In East and Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, the underweight tail of the BMI distribution was left behind as the distribution shifted. There is a need for policies that address all forms of malnutrition by making healthy foods accessible and affordable, while restricting unhealthy foods through fiscal and regulatory restrictions.

This study aimed to evaluate the reproducibility of office (OBP), ambulatory (ABP), and home blood pressure (HBP) measurements in children and adolescents, and their implications in diagnosing hypertension in clinical practice and in pediatric hypertension research. Apparently healthy children and adolescents referred for suspected hypertension were included. Measurements of 2-visit OBP, 7-day HBP, and 24-hour ABP were performed twice, 1 to 6 months apart. Reproducibility was quantified using the SD of differences between repeated measurements. The sample size of clinical trials comparing the efficacy of antihypertensive drugs using each method was calculated. Fifty-eight individuals were analyzed (mean age, 13.0±2.9 years, 60.3% boys). The reproducibility of 24-hour ABP (SD of differences 5.7/4.5 systolic/diastolic) and HBP (5.9/5.0 mm Hg) were comparable and superior to that of visit-2 OBP (9.2/7.8) and awake (6.7/5.5) or asleep ABP (7.6/6.1). As a consequence, a parallel-group comparative trial aiming to detect a difference in the effect of 2 drugs of 10 mm Hg systolic BP, would require 36 participants when using OBP measurements, 14 using 24-hour ABP, and 15 using HBP (102/34/42 respectively for detecting a 5 mm Hg difference in diastolic BP). For a crossover design trial, the corresponding sample sizes are 9/3/4 for systolic BP and 26/9/11 for diastolic, respectively. These data suggest that in children and adolescents 24-hour ABP and 7-day HBP have similar reproducibility, superior to OBP and daytime or asleep ABP. These findings have major implications in diagnosing hypertension in children in clinical practice and in designing clinical research trials in pediatric hypertension.