Zhang 2012a.

Methods	Groups: A: acupuncture + psychotherapy, B: acupuncture, C: medicine. Blinding: participants, Chinese physician who included participants. Dropouts/withdrawals: not reported. Duration of intervention: no information of baseline; 8 weeks' treatment; no follow‐up.
Participants	Number of participants screening/included/analyzed: not reported/42/42. Number of participants in each group: 14:14:14. Demographics: aged 42‐60 years for all participants; number of women 19. Number of participants who used antihypertensives: no information. Course of disease: no information. Setting: no information.
Interventions	Acupuncture points: B: Quchi, Taichong, Zusanli, Sanyinjiao. Information on acupuncturists: no information. Deqi achieved?: no information. Control group intervention: A: acupuncture + psychotherapy: 1. supportive psychotherapy, 30‐min sessions, twice a week, 8 weeks was a course; 2. cognitive therapy, 30‐min sessions, twice a week, 8 weeks was a course; 3. relaxation therapy, 30 min sessions, twice or three times a week, 8 weeks was a course; C: captopril (Bristol‐Myers Squibb, Shanghai), 25 mg, TID.
Outcomes	Primary outcome: change in SBP and DBP before and after treatment (not mentioned, but likely right after last session). Secondary outcome: change in grade Zung self‐rating anxiety scale (SAS) and Zung self‐rating depression scale (SDS) before and after treatment.
Study detail	Position for measuring BP: sitting. BP measurements: auscultatory cuff BP measurements. Time of each session: needles retained for 30 min, stimulated every 15 min. Number of treatment sessions: 24 (for 8 weeks). Frequency of treatment sessions: 3 times a week. Time of recruiting: no information. Adverse events: no information.
Publication detail	Language or publication: Chinese. Commercial funding: no. Non‐commercial funding: no. Publication status: peer review journal.
Notes	No detailed information of demographics.
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Low risk	Random number table.
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Unclear risk	No description.
Blinding (performance bias and detection bias) All outcomes	High risk	Participants and investigators not blinded to acupuncture or pills.
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Low risk	No dropouts or withdrawals.
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Low risk	Relevant outcomes reported.
Other bias	Unclear risk	No description.

BID: twice a day; BP: blood pressure; DBP: diastolic blood pressure; min: minute; NPY: neuropeptide Y; NT: neurotensin; QD: once a day; SAS: Zung self‐rating anxiety scale; SBP: systolic blood pressure; SDS: Zung self‐rating depression scale; TCM: Traditional Chinese Medicine; TID: three times a day.