Effects of Combination Treatment in Hypertensive Patients with Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of 27 Randomized Controlled Trials

BACKGROUND: Hypertension commonly co-exists with depression and is associated with adverse health outcomes. This meta-analysis aimed to examine whether combination treatment can improve the outcomes of patients with comorbid hypertension and depression. METHODS: We searched for relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published through July 2021 using PubMed, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Wanfang Data. RCTs on patients with an antihypertensive outcome and data on mean blood pressure differences were extracted for both intervention and control groups. Continuous and dichotomous measures of outcomes were pooled using weighted mean differences (WMD) and risk ratios (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) by random or fixed effects. Subgroup and meta-regression analyses were performed to identify any existing heterogeneous sources. RESULTS: A total of 27 RCTs with 2606 participants were included. Combination treatment significantly improved systolic blood pressure (SBP) by 11.27 mmHg (WMD = −11.27, 95% CI: −14.12 to −8.43), I(2) = 95.4%), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) by 8.21 mmHg (WMD = −8.21, 95% CI: −10.73 to −5.69), I(2) = 96.9%), and antihypertensive efficiency by 42% (RR = 1.42, 95% CI: 1.32 to 1.52, I(2) = 0.0%) compared with in the control group. Combination treatment improved SBP and DBP levels in patients aged <65 years compared with those in patients aged ≥65 years (p = 0.020 and 0.007, respectively). CONCLUSION: Pooled evidence suggests that combination treatment significantly improves both blood pressure levels and antihypertensive efficiency in hypertensive patients with depression. Elderly patients with comorbid hypertension and depression may require a more collaborative approach to improve their outcome. REGISTRATION: PROSPERO registration number CRD42020213430. Registered on November 08, 2020.