Healthcare professional-led interventions on lifestyle modifications for hypertensive patients – a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: About 0.9 billion people in the world have hypertension. The mortality due to hypertension increased dramatically over the last decades. Healthcare professionals should support patients with hypertension to modify their lifestyle to decrease blood pressure, but an overview of effective lifestyle interventions is lacking. The aim of this study was to determine whether healthcare professional-led interventions on lifestyle modifications are effective in lowering blood pressure in patients with hypertension. METHODS: A systematic literature review following the PRISMA guidelines was conducted. PubMed, EMBASE and CINAHL databases were searched for randomized control trials (RCTs) of interventions on lifestyle modifications of hypertensive patients which were performed by healthcare professionals (physician, nurse, pharmacist) and which reported blood pressure measurements. Papers were reviewed by two reviewers and analysed using Cochrane software Revman 5.4. In a meta-analysis difference in systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and the percentage of patients with controlled blood pressure (BP) was analysed. RESULTS: In total, 34 clinical trials reporting on 22,419 patients (mean age 58.4 years, 49.14% female, 69.9% used antihypertensive medications) were included. The mean difference SBP was − 4.41 mmHg (95% CI, − 5.52to − 3.30) and the mean difference DBP was − 1.66 mmHg (95% CI − 2.44 to − 0.88) in favor of the intervention group vs usual care. Fifty-six percent of patients achieved BP control in the intervention group vs 44% in usual care, OR = 1.87 (95% CI, 1.51 to 2.31). CONCLUSION: Healthcare professional-led interventions were effective. Patients achieved almost 5 mmHg decrease of SBP and more patients achieved BP control. The results suggest that efforts are needed for widespread implementation. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12875-021-01421-z.