Effect of electroacupuncture combined with rehabilitation training on hypertension: A systematic review and meta-analysis

To evaluate the clinical effects of electroacupuncture combined with rehabilitation training (EART) versus conventional rehabilitation training (CRT) on hypertension. Multiple databases like PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and Wanfang database, China National Knowledge Internet database, and Chinese Biological Medical database were used to search for the relevant studies and full-text articles involved in evaluating EART versus CRT with hypertension. Review Manager 5.4 was used to estimate the effects of the results among included articles. Forest plots, sensitivity analysis, and funnel plots were also conducted on the included articles. In this meta-analysis study, there were 9 relevant studies were eventually satisfied the included criteria. There were significant differences between EART group and CRT group in systolic blood pressure after treatment (MD −16.62, 95 %CI = -21.84 to −11.39; P < 0.00001), diastolic blood pressure after treatment (MD = −16.03, 95 % CI = −21.55 to −10.50; P < 0.00001), and effective rate (MD = 1.22, 95 % CI = 1.13 to 1.32; P < 0.00001). Sensitivity analysis and funnel chart demonstrated that the study was robust and limited publication bias was observed. Our data showed that EART was clinically more significant than CRT in hypertension. Further studies need to be performed using large relevance references to verify the effectiveness of EART in the treatment of hypertension.