Mean differences were pooled in random-effects meta-analyses and 95% confidence intervals were presented.
Subgroup analyses were carried out according to mean age, sex, body mass index, diet type, sample size, duration of vegetarian diet consumption, antihypertensive medication use, baseline hypertensive status, and location (country).Heterogeneity was quantified using Ι². Meta-regression was conducted to explore sources of variation. Sensitivity analysis was performed to evaluate the impact on the overall result of removing one study at a time.
Funnel plots and the Egger test were used to assess publication bias, and the trim and fill method was used to adjust for publication bias.