Effect of acupuncture on essential hypertension: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Essential hypertension is a risk factor for early cardiovascular disease and is a major preventable risk factor for premature death and disability worldwide. However, some antihypertensive drugs cannot be used for treatment because of their cost-effectiveness or side effects. Non-drug treatments for hypertension include weight loss, salt restriction, smoking cessation, alcohol withdrawal, and exercise, although these methods are difficult to maintain and to achieve. This study will investigate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture and moxibustion in the treatment of different grades of essential hypertension. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A systematic search of the Cochrane, PubMed, EMBASE, CNKI, WanFang, VIP, and CBM databases will be performed, which will include randomized controlled trials on acupuncture for essential hypertension. The main results will include systolic and diastolic blood pressure before and after treatment, whereas the secondary outcomes will be efficacy rate and adverse events. The possible adverse reactions include dizziness, headache, edema, cough, nausea, electrolyte disorders, and hypotension. RevMan Manager 5.3 (Cochrane Collaboration) and STATA 16.0 software will be used to calculate mean deviation, standard deviation, confidence interval, and P values. For continuous variables, we will use the standardized mean difference of 95% confidence intervals as the summary statistics of the meta-analysis. RESULTS: This study will assess the efficacy and safety of acupuncture for essential hypertension. CONCLUSIONS: Our study will determine the efficacy and safety of acupuncture in treating primary hypertension, and provide the basis for clinical decision-making. INPLASY REGISTRATION NUMBER: INPLASY202130042.