Effect of Acupuncture on Heart Rate Variability: A Systematic Review

Table 5

A summary of the effect of acupuncture in HRV outcome measures in various subject groups and by different acupoints.

Outcomes	Overall effect, 𝑍			Mean difference
	All studies	Healthy	Non-healthy	All Studies	Healthy	Non-healthy
HF	4.69 (𝑃<0.0001)*	1.39 (𝑃=0.17)^#	5.25 (𝑃<0.0001)*	0.08 [0.05, 0.10]*	0.07 [−0.03, 0.17]^#	0.08 [0.05, 0.10]*
LF	0.03 (𝑃=0.98)	0.72 (𝑃=0.47)	2.04 (𝑃=0.04)*	0.01 [−0.38, 0.40]	0.15 [−0.26, 0.56]	−0.98 [−1.93, −0.04]*
LF/HF ratio	2.18 (𝑃=0.03)*	1.26 (𝑃=0.21)	15.82 (𝑃<0.0001)*	−0.33 [−0.63, −0.03]*	−0.26 [−0.66, 0.14]	−0.50 [−0.56, −0.44]*
HF norm	5.00 (𝑃<0.0001)*	5.00 (𝑃<0.0001)*	—	0.51 [0.31, 0.70]*	0.51 [0.31, 0.70]*	NA
LF norm	4.03 (𝑃<0.0001)*	4.03 (𝑃<0.0001)*	—	−0.30 [−0.44, −0.15]*	−0.30 [−0.44, −0.15]*	NA
LI4 on HF	15.82 (𝑃<0.0001)*	—	—	0.21 [−0.05, 0.47]	—	—
LI4 on LF/HF ratio	0.04 (𝑃=0.97)	—	—	−0.01 [−0.29, 0.27]	—	—
LI4 on HF norm	0.24 (𝑃=0.81)	—	—	1.20 [−8.64, 11.04]	—	—
LI4 on LF norm	0.36 (𝑃=0.72)	—	—	−1.45 [9.32, 6.41]	—	—
PC6 on HF	5.47 (𝑃<0.0001)*	—	5.25 (𝑃<0.0001)*	0.07 [0.05, 0.10]*	—	0.08 [0.05, 0.10]*
PC6 on LF	0.57 (0.57)	—	—	−0.05 [−0.24, 0.13]	—	—
PC6 on LF/HF ratio	2.23 (𝑃=0.03)*	—	15.82 (𝑃<0.0001)*	−0.27 [−0.51, −0.03]*	—	−0.50 [−0.56, −0.44]*
PC6 on HF norm	0.20 (𝑃=0.84)	—	—	0.80 [−6.99, 8.58]	—	—
PC6 on LF norm	0.15 (𝑃=0.88)	—	—	−0.45 [−6.42, 5.52]	—	—
ST36 on HF	4.47 (𝑃<0.0001)*	3.00 (𝑃=0.003)*	—	0.07 [0.04, 0.11]*	−99.51 [−164.56, −34.45]*	—
ST36 on LF	0.96 (𝑃=0.34)	—	—	−136.15 [−414.89, 142.59]	—	—
ST36 on LF/HF ratio	0.61 (𝑃=0.54)	—	—	−0.09 [−0.36, 0.19]	—	—

∗Denoted “significant overall effect” and “significant mean difference”, respectively.
#Higgins 𝐼² test is ≤50%; fixed effect is used.