Dan 1998.

Methods	Groups: A: acupuncture, B: medicine control. Blinding: no information. Dropouts/withdrawals: 0. Duration of intervention: no information of baseline; 3 weeks' treatment; no follow‐up.
Participants	Number of participants screenings/included/analyzed: not reported/52/52. Number of participants in each group: 26:26. Demographics: mean age 57.8 years in A, 48.35 years in B; number of women 7:8. Number of participants who used antihypertensives: no information. Course of disease: 5‐25 years, mean 9.4 years in A; 4‐26 years, mean 8.8 years in B. Setting: inpatients from Beijing Chaoyang Second Hospital.
Interventions	Acupuncture points: main points: Quchi, Hegu, Taichong, Fengchi, Geshu; assistant points: Yin deficiency and yang excess: Fuliu, Neiguan; The phlegm wet resistance: Fenglong, Gongsun; Yin‐yang deficiency: Zusanli, Sanyinjiao. Information on acupuncturists: none. Deqi achieved?: yes. Control group intervention: nifedipine, 10 mg, TID, for 3 weeks.
Outcomes	Primary outcome: change in 24‐hour BP before and after treatment (measured immediately after acupuncture session). Secondary outcomes: change in BP; change in heart rate, myocardial oxygen consumption; response of symptom.
Study detail	Position for measuring BP: activity not restricted for ambulatory BP monitoring. BP measurements: Accutracker Ⅱ (Suntech MedicalIns, Raleigh, NC USA), non‐invasive portable ambulatory BP monitoring. Time of each session: needles retained for 20‐30 min, stimulated after 10 min of inserting needle. Number of treatment sessions: 15 (lasting 3 weeks). Frequency of treatment sessions: once daily, 5 times a week. Time of recruiting: no information. Adverse events: no information.
Publication detail	Language of publication: Chinese. Commercial funding: no. Non‐commercial funding: no. Publication status: peer review journal.
Notes
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Only described randomization used, but no description of the method and detail of randomization.
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Unclear risk	No description.
Blinding (performance bias and detection bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	Participants and investigators not blinded to acupuncture or pills. Detection bias reduced as BP was measured with automatic 24‐hour monitor.
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Low risk	No dropouts or exclusions from analysis.
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Low risk	Relevant outcomes reported.
Other bias	Unclear risk	No description.