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

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%,  < 0.001) was higher than the balanced constitution (17.3%; 95% CI: 10.7-23.8%,  < 0.001). Phlegm-dampness constitution, -deficiency constitution, and damp-heat constitution accounted for 16.0% (95%CI: 10.5-21.5%,  < 0.001), 14.8% (95% CI: 11.0-18.6%,  < 0.001), 11.3% (95% CI: 8.0-14.5%,  < 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, -deficiency constitution, and blood-stasis constitution was 2.665 (95%CI: 2.286-3.106,  < 0.001), 2.378 (95%CI: 1.197-4.724,  = 0.013), 1.965 (95%CI: 1.634-2.363,  < 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,  < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Phlegm-dampness constitution, -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.