Acupuncture for Hypertension: Meta-Analysis of 7 RCTs from 2015-2024

A 2024 systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated the efficacy and safety of acupuncture for primary hypertension, based on randomised controlled trials (RCTs) published between 2015 and 2024. The analysis, authored by Zhi-Hong Li, included seven RCTs with a total of 812 participants. It found acupuncture was associated with reductions in systolic and diastolic blood pressure, though evidence is limited by substantial heterogeneity and a small number of studies.

Use Cases

• Validate meta-analysis results for systolic and diastolic blood pressure changes based on reported mean differences and confidence intervals.
• Assess study heterogeneity and risk of bias based on the Cochrane tool application described.
• Explore subgroup analyses of different acupuncture modalities mentioned in the description.
• Evaluate safety reporting completeness based on the noted limited and inconsistent adverse-event data.

Strengths

• Includes a specific number of studies (7 RCTs) and participants (n=812).
• Reports precise quantitative outcomes (mean differences and 95% confidence intervals for SBP and DBP).
• Employs a standard methodological framework (Cochrane Risk of Bias tool, random-effects meta-analysis).
• Clearly defines the temporal scope of included literature (2015 to 2024).

Limitations

• The dataset consists of PNG image files; the underlying tabular meta-analysis data is not directly accessible.
• Substantial statistical heterogeneity is reported (I² = 73.3% for SBP, 90.9% for DBP).
• The analysis is limited by a small number of included studies and considerable variation in intervention protocols.

Provenance

Source

Zhi-Hong Li via figshare.

Collection Method

Systematic review and meta-analysis of seven randomised controlled trials from seven major databases.

Time Range

Studies published between 2015 and 2024.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-17 21:06:08.

Geography

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