Review Article

Efficacy of Acupuncture in the Treatment of Essential Hypertension: An Overview of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses

Table 2

Basic information of the included SRs/MAs.

Author, year (country)Language of publicationTrials (subjects)Intervention groupControl groupQuality assessmentMain results

Liu et al., 2012 (China) [26]Chinese10 (782)Acupuncture/acupuncture+antihypertensive drugsAntihypertensive drugsJadad scaleAcupuncture is safe and effective in the treatment of mild to moderate essential hypertension.
Yu et al., 2013 (China) [27]Chinese18 (1462)AcupunctureAntihypertensive drugsJadad scaleThe data indicate that acupuncture and drugs have the same therapeutic effect on essential hypertension.
Zhang et al., 2013 (China) [28]Chinese11 (1072)Acupuncture/acupuncture+antihypertensive drugsSham acupuncture/antihypertensive drugsCochrane criteriaAcupuncture can reduce blood pressure to varying degrees without adverse reactions,but there are certain defects in the quality of the included studies, and more high-quality studies are needed.
Qian, 2013 (China) [29]Chinese18 (1473)Acupuncture/acupuncture+conventional therapySham acupuncture/antihypertensive drugs/conventional therapyCochrane criteriaAcupuncture has potential efficacy in the treatment of essential hypertension without serious adverse reactions
Guo et al., 2013 (China) [30]Chinese10 (679)Acupuncture+antihypertensive drugsAntihypertensive drugsCochrane criteriaThe combination of acupuncture and medicine has good clinical efficacy in the treatment of essential hypertension.
Zhang et al., 2014 (China) [31]Chinese13 (1066)Acupuncture/acupuncture+antihypertensive drugsAntihypertensive drugsJadad scaleAcupuncture is a valuable medical method, and to a certain extent, it can be used as a safe, green, and beneficial therapy to replace western medicine for lowering blood pressure, and acupuncture combined with antihypertensive has better curative effect.
Zhang et al., 2017 (China) [32]Chinese53 (4459)Acupuncture/acupuncture+antihypertensive drugsAntihypertensive drugsCochrane criteriaA comparison of acupuncture/acupuncture combined with antihypertensive drugs and pure antihypertensive drugs has a good effect in improving all aspects of the condition of hypertensive patients.
Zhu and Ding, 2018 (China) [33]Chinese22 (1758)Acupuncture/acupuncture+antihypertensive drugs/acupuncture+behavioral therapyAntihypertensive drugsJadad scaleResearch analysis shows that acupuncture at GB20 (Fengchi) and Ll11 (Quchi) points has a definite curative effect and high safety in the treatment of essential hypertension.
Han et al., 2019 (China) [34]Chinese7 (722)Acupuncture+Tianma Gouteng decoctionAntihypertensive drugs/Tianma Gouteng decoctionCochrane criteriaAcupuncture combined with Tianma Gouteng decoction has a good curative effect in the treatment of hypertension.
Lee et al., 2009 (South Korea) [35]English11 (847)Acupuncture or acupuncture+antihypertensive drugsPlacebo (sham acupuncture)/antihypertensive drugs/lifestyle interventionOxford scaleConsidering the limitation of the four positive noninferiority studies and the results of the meta-analysis of the three sham-controlled studies, the notion that acupuncture may lower high blood pressure is inconclusive.
Li et al., 2014 (China) [36]English4 (386)Acupuncture or acupuncture+antihypertensive drugsPlacebo (sham acupuncture)Jadad scaleOur results are consistent with the conclusion that acupuncture significantly lowers blood pressure in patients taking antihypertensive medications.
Zhao et al., 2015 (China) [37]English23 (1788)Acupuncture/acupuncture+lifestyle modification/abdominal acupuncture+antihypertensive drugsLifestyle modification/antihypertensive drugs/sham acupunctureCochrane criteriaOur review provided evidence of acupuncture as an adjunctive therapy to medication for treating hypertension, while the evidence for acupuncture alone lowering blood pressure is insufficient.
Chen et al., 2018 (China) [38]English30 (2107)Acupuncture or electroacupuncture or + lifestyle modifications/or + antihypertensive drugsSham acupuncture or lifestyle modifications or antihypertensive drugsCochrane criteriaOur systematic review indicates there is inadequate high-quality evidence that acupuncture therapy is useful in treating hypertension, as the exact effect and safety of acupuncture therapy for hypertension are still unclear.
Zhang et al., 2022 (China) [39]English10 (1196)Acupuncture therapy or + nonacupuncture hypertension treatment measuresNo treatment/nonacupuncture hypertension treatment measuresCochrane criteriaExisting evidence shows that acupuncture could be used for treating hypertension.