This study showed that the intervention time was concentrated at 4–8 weeks, mainly through Chinese herbal medicine for the prevention and treatment of elderly hypertension and the complications.
We systematically retrieved and summarised clinical studies on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for the prevention and treatment of essential hypertension (EH) using the evidence map. We aimed to explore the evidence distribution, identify gaps in evidence, and inform on future research priorities. Clinical studies, systematic reviews, guidelines, and pathway studies related to TCM for the prevention and treatment of EH, published between January 2000 and December 2019, were included from databases CNKI, WanFang Data, VIP, PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science. The distribution of evidence was analysed using text descriptions, tables, and graphs. A total of 9,403 articles were included, including 5,920 randomised controlled studies (RCTs), 16 guidelines, expert consensus and path studies, and 139 systematic reviews (SRs).
A total of 10 high-quality studies were retrieved, where qigong (20 RCTs), zhengan xifeng decoction (6 RCTs), Liuwei Dihuang pill (6 RCTs), and Chinese herbal medicine (24 RCTs) were considered to have evidence of potential positive effects. Xuefu zhuyu decoction (15 RCTs) was considered a positive effect; i.e., we are confident in estimating the research results.
