ncern because it is associated with cardiovascular diseases and deaths
[17]. The treatment of hypertensive patients is based on lifestyle
modification (diet, smoking cessation and physical activity) and
medications [1]. A study [18] showed that individuals that reach ≥12
METs (metabolic equivalent) on exercise test have 20% lower risk of hypertension.
Moreover, a previous meta-analysis showed that increasing
the level of physical activity on individuals with hypertension can
decrease SBP and DBP from 5 to 10 mm Hg and from 1 to 6 mm Hg, respectively
[3]. Our meta-analysis found that dance therapy reduced
12 mm Hg of SBP and 3 mm Hg of DBP on individuals with hypertension,
which is in accordance with previous data [3]. These reductions in blood
pressure are very important in clinical practice because a reduction
of 5 mm Hg in SBP has been associated with a reduction of 13% in
risk of stroke [19]. From the included studies, only two assessed
exercise capacity before and after dance therapy. Our meta-analysis
also found improvement on exercise capacity of individuals with
hypertension [6,7]