Author: Siew Mooi Ching1,2, Naidu Ragubathi Mokshashri3, Maharajan Mari Kannan4, Kai Wei Lee5, Nurin Amalina Sallahuddin3, Jun Xun Ng3, Jie Lin Wong3, Navin Kumar Devaraj3,6, Fan Kee Hoo7, Yee Shen Loo8, Sajesh K Veettil8
Affiliation: <sup>1</sup> Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia. sm_ching@upm.edu.my.
<sup>2</sup> Malaysian Research Institute on Ageing, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia. sm_ching@upm.edu.my.
<sup>3</sup> Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
<sup>4</sup> School of Pharmacy/School of Postgraduate Studies, International Medical University, Kuala Lumpur, 57000, Malaysia.
<sup>5</sup> Department of Pre-Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, 43000, Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia.
<sup>6</sup> Malaysian Research Institute on Ageing, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
<sup>7</sup> Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
<sup>8</sup> Department of Pharmacotherapy, College of Pharmacy, University of Utah, 30 2000 E, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA.
Conference/Journal: BMC Complement Med Ther
Date published: 2021 Jan 6
Other:
Volume ID: 21 , Issue ID: 1 , Pages: 8 , Special Notes: doi: 10.1186/s12906-020-03172-3. , Word Count: 234
Background:
The benefits of qigong for systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP) reduction have been noted in previously published systematic reviews; however, the data on its effectiveness has been at best scarce. We aimed to update the evidence of qigong on blood pressure reduction after taking into consideration the risks of random error and reliability of data in the cumulative meta-analysis using trial sequential analysis (TSA).
Methods:
Included trials were assessed using Cochrane risk of bias instrument. We performed meta-analysis with random-effects model and random errors were evaluated with TSA. We performed the search for the eligible randomized controlled trial (RCT) through Medline, Cinahl, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and also PubMed.
Results:
A total of 370 subjects sourced from seven eligible RCTs were entered into the analysis. The pooled results demonstrated the significant reduction with the use of qigong of the systolic blood pressure [weighted mean difference (WMD), - 10.66 mmHg (95% confidence interval (CI) = - 17.69,-3.62, p < 0.001] and diastolic BP [WMD, - 6.76 mmHg, 95% CI = - 12.22, - 1.30, p < 0.001] as compared to the control group.
Conclusions:
Significant reductions in BP is seen with the use of qigong as compared with the control group, suggesting that qigong may be used as a complementary therapy in the somewhat complicated management of hypertension.
Keywords: Blood pressure; Complementary therapies; Hypertension; Qigong; Systematic review, meta-analysis, randomized controlled trials, trial sequential analysis.
PMID: 33407414 PMCID: PMC7789757 DOI: 10.1186/s12906-020-03172-3