Traditional Chinese Medicine constitution types of high-normal blood pressure: A meta-analysis

Ting-Yu Mu; Qian-Yin Zhu; Ling-Shan Chen; Die Dong; Jia-Yi Xu; Ri-Xiang Xu; Cui-Zhen Shen

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e13438

Traditional Chinese Medicine constitution types of high-normal blood pressure: A meta-analysis

Heliyon. 2023 Feb 6;9(2):e13438. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e13438. eCollection 2023 Feb.

Authors

Ting-Yu Mu¹, Qian-Yin Zhu¹, Ling-Shan Chen¹, Die Dong¹, Jia-Yi Xu¹, Ri-Xiang Xu², Cui-Zhen Shen¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Nursing, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Zhejiang, China.
² School of Humanities and Management, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Zhejiang, China.

Abstract

Objective: We determined the distribution of constitutional types of high-normal blood pressure in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and provided evidence for the prevention of high-normal blood pressure and hypertension.

Methods: Eight digital databases were searched from January 2011 to November 2022, including PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, EBSCOhost, CNKI, CBM, Wangfang, and CQVIP. We performed a meta-analysis with the random-effects model or fixed-effects model to describe the distribution of constitutional types of high-normal blood pressure in TCM. The studies were assessed based on heterogeneity testing and the potential for publication bias. The meta-analysis was performed on Stata software 15.0.

Results: A total of 17 studies with 8118 participants were included in this meta-analysis. The proportion of the biased constitution (82.3%; 95% CI: 75.6%-89.1%, p < 0.001) was higher than the balanced constitution (17.3%; 95% CI: 10.7-23.8%, p < 0.001). Phlegm-dampness constitution, Yin-deficiency constitution, and damp-heat constitution accounted for 16.0% (95%CI: 10.5-21.5%, p < 0.001), 14.8% (95% CI: 11.0-18.6%, p < 0.001), 11.3% (95% CI: 8.0-14.5%, p < 0.001) of the total high-normal blood pressure cases, respectively. The subgroup analyses performed that region, age and gender were positively associated with the distribution of constitution types of high-normal blood pressure in TCM. Compared with the general population, the risk of high-normal blood pressure in people with the phlegm-dampness constitution, Yin-deficiency constitution, and blood-stasis constitution was 2.665 (95%CI: 2.286-3.106, p < 0.001), 2.378 (95%CI: 1.197-4.724, p = 0.013), 1.965 (95%CI: 1.634-2.363, p < 0.001) times of the general population, respectively. Meanwhile, the risk of high-normal blood pressure was lower in people with a balanced constitution (0.248, 95%CI: 0.165-0.372, p < 0.001).

Conclusions: Phlegm-dampness constitution, Yin-deficiency constitution, and damp-heat constitution were the common constitution types of high-normal blood pressure. There might also be differences in the distribution characteristics of TCM constitution among people with high-normal blood pressure in different regions, ages, and genders. Finally, a balanced constitution might be a protective factor for hypertensive people.

Keywords: CBM, China Biology Medicine; CCMQ, Constitution in the Chinese Medicine Questionnaire; CNKI, China National Knowledge Infrastructure; High-normal BP, High-normal blood pressure; High-normal blood pressure; Hypertension; Meta-analysis; TCM, Traditional Chinese Medicine; Traditional Chinese Medicine constitution.