Traditional needle acupuncture treatment for insomnia: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials

Yeung, Wing‐Fai; Chung, Ka Fai; Leung, Yau Kwong; Zhang, Shi Ping; Law, Angeline

doi:10.1016/j.sleep.2008.08.012

Cited by 84 publications

(65 citation statements)

References 40 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…[65][66][67][68] However, while acupuncture and acupressure may assist to improve sleep quality, the efficacy of these interventions was inconsistent between studies for many sleep parameters, including sleep onset latency, total sleep duration, and time to waking. [65][66][67][68] A recent study using electroacupucture for chronic insomnias demonstrated beneficial effects on sleep quality which, as the authors stated, may be associated with valuable repair of sleep architecture, reconstructing sleep continuity, prolonging slow wave sleep time and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep time. 57 Research using acupuncture and acupressure remains in progress and will hopefully demonstrate the full benefits as more rigorous studies are completed and published.…”

Section: Complementary and Alternative Medicinementioning

confidence: 99%

Treatment of Insomnia with Comorbid Mental Illness

Skaer¹

2012

Can't Sleep? Issues of Being an Insomniac

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Complementary and Alternative Medicinementioning

confidence: 99%

Treatment of Insomnia with Comorbid Mental Illness

Skaer¹

2012

Can't Sleep? Issues of Being an Insomniac

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…The findings from published systematic reviews suggest that acupuncture, and variants of acupuncture (acupressure; auricular acupuncture; auricular therapy), may be effective treatment options for sleep disturbance [7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. However, evidence of the effectiveness of acupuncture and related interventions within cancer are more limited [14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However many previous studies of acupuncture and related interventions have contained numerous methodological weaknesses [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16], and there is no conclusive evidence to suggest which modality of acupuncture may be more effective for sleep disturbance. This feasibility study aimed to address this gap in the evidence base and provide preliminary data on the effectiveness of two variants of acupuncture (auricular therapy (attaching semen vaccariae seeds to ear acupoints) and selfadministered acupressure) in the relief of insomnia in a sample of patients with cancer in a methodologically rigorous feasibility study.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A feasibility study of auricular therapy and self-administered acupressure for insomnia following cancer treatment

Hughes

Towler

Storey

et al. 2015

European Journal of Integrative Medicine

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Introduction: Many cancer patients experience sleeping difficulties which can persist several years after the completion of cancer treatment. Previous research suggests that acupuncture, and variants of acupuncture (acupressure, auricular therapy) may be effective treatment options for sleep disturbance. However, current evidence is limited for cancer patients. Methods: Feasibility study with 3 arms. Seven cancer patients with insomnia randomised to receive either auricular therapy (attaching semen vaccariae seeds to ear acupoints) (n=4), selfacupressure (n=1) or no treatment (n=2). Participants assigned to receive auricular therapy or selfacupressure stimulated the acupoints each night an hour before retiring to bed. The duration of participant involvement was 5 weeks. Subjective sleep quality was measured at baseline and posttreatment using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). The impact of treatment on concerns of importance to the participants themselves was measured using the Measure Yourself Concerns and Wellbeing (MYCaW). Each participant also completed a treatment log book.

show abstract

“…In a systematic review by Yeung et al ., 20 randomized controlled trials were analyzed to assess the effect of acupuncture on insomnia patients by comparing them with control patients given a benzodiazepine, with results indicating that acupuncture was more effective. The study, however, has certain limitations including an undefined criterion for diagnosis, lack of randomization or blinded conditions, and small sample sizes [8]. Several other studies investigate the effect on acupuncture as a treatment for insomnia by comparing different acupuncture therapies, the effects of using and not using moxa, and comparison with placebo sleeping pills [9–11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of acupuncture on patients with insomnia: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Han

Kim

Chung

2014

Trials

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundHypnotic drugs tend to be the dominant form of treatment of insomnia, but these come with a number of reported side effects. Acupuncture has been studied as an alternative, resulting in a rising need for methodological research towards verifying its efficacy as insomnia treatment.Methods/DesignWe describe a proposal for a single-center, patient-assessor-blinded, randomized controlled trial with two parallel arms. A total of 38 patients complete screening tests at the first visit, are registered into the clinical trial, and then randomly assigned to the experimental or sham control groups (19 patients for each group). All subjects are clinical insomnia patients who score a 6 or above on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and meet all inclusion criteria. All subjects are treated with acupuncture and intradermal acupuncture (IDA) three times during the first week. Five sham acupoints are used in the control group. In the experimental group, five real acupoints (PC6, SP6, HT7, KI6, and BL62) are used unilaterally in turn. Sham acupoints are over 1 cm away from each real acupoint.The primary outcomes are the scores on the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) and PSQI. Secondary outcomes are the sleep log, the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), the World Health Organization Quality of Life Abbreviated Version (WHOQOL-BREF), the Korean-Auditory Verbal Learning Test (K-AVLT), the Digit Span Test (DS), Event Related Potentials (ERPs) and heart rate variability (HRV) to assess emotional states, sleep quality, cognitive functioning, and electro-physiological changes.Subjects are assessed at three time points: baseline, post-treatment and follow-up. The duration of the clinical trial is 18 days.DiscussionTo study the enhancement of the effectiveness of acupuncture for insomnia, we test the intradermal acupuncture method, which is performed continuously on the subject’s skin and stimulated at home by the subject every night. In the trial, objective measurements including ERPs and HRV are used to evaluate states of cognition and autonomic nervous system functioning and subjective self-report questionnaires assess insomnia symptoms.'Sham’ acupuncture points provided by STRICTA are used for the control group.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01956760, registered 5 September 2013.

show abstract

Traditional needle acupuncture treatment for insomnia: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials

Cited by 84 publications

References 40 publications

Treatment of Insomnia with Comorbid Mental Illness

Treatment of Insomnia with Comorbid Mental Illness

A feasibility study of auricular therapy and self-administered acupressure for insomnia following cancer treatment

Effect of acupuncture on patients with insomnia: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About