Influence of Mindfulness and Relaxation on Treatment of Essential Hypertension: Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND: Some studies published previously have shown a strong correlation between hypertension and psychological nature including impulsion emotion or mindfulness and relaxation temperament, among which mindfulness and relaxation temperament might have a benign influence on blood pressure, ameliorating the hypertension. However, the conclusion was not confirmed. OBJECTIVE: The meta-analysis was performed to investigate the influence of mindfulness and relaxation on essential hypertension interventions and confirm the effects. METHODS: Systematic searches were conducted in common English and Chinese electronic databases (i.e., PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Cochrane Library, and Chinese Biomedical Literature Database) from 1980 to 2020. A meta-analysis including 5 studies was performed using Rev Man 5.4.1 software to estimate the influence of mindfulness and relaxation on blood pressure, ameliorating the hypertension. Publication bias and heterogeneity of samples were tested using a funnel plot. Studies were analyzed using either a random-effect model or a fixed-effect model. RESULTS: All the 5 studies investigated the influence of mindfulness and relaxation on diastolic and systolic blood pressure, with total 205 participants in the control group and 204 in the intervention group. The random-effects model (REM) was used to calculate the pooled effect for mindfulness and relaxation on diastolic blood pressure (I(2) = 0%, t(2) = 0.000, P=0.41). The random pooled effect size (MD) was 0.30 (95% CI = −0.81–1.42, P=0.59). REM was used to calculate the pooled effect for mindfulness and relaxation on systolic blood pressure (I(2) = 49%, t(2) = 3.05, P=0.10). The random pooled effect size (MD) was −1.05 (95% CI = −3.29–1.18, P=0.36). The results of this meta-analysis were influenced by publication bias to some degree. CONCLUSION: All the results showed less influence of mindfulness and relaxation might act on diastolic or systolic blood pressure, when mindfulness and relaxation are used to intervene in treating CVD and hypertension.