Acupuncture for treatment of insomnia: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials.
J Altern Complement Med. 2009 Nov;15(11):1171-86. doi: 10.1089/acm.2009.0041.
Results
Forty-six (46) randomized trials involving 3811 patients were included, and the methodological quality of trials was generally fair in terms of randomization, blinding, and intention-to-treat analysis. Meta-analyses showed a beneficial effect of acupuncture compared with no treatment (MD −3.28, 95% CI −6.10 to −0.46, p = 0.02; 4 trials) and real acupressure compared with sham acupressure (MD −2.94, 95% CI −5.77 to −0.11, p = 0.04; 2 trials) on total scores of Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Acupuncture was superior to medications regarding the number of patients with total sleep duration increased for >3 hours (RR 1.53, 95% CI 1.24–1.88, p < 0.0001). However, there was no difference between acupuncture and medications in average sleep duration (MD −0.06, 95% CI −0.30–0.18, p = 0.63). Acupuncture plus me dications showed better effect than medications alone on total sleep duration (MD 1.09, 95% CI 0.56–1.61, p < 0.0001). Similarly, acupuncture plus herbs was significantly better than herbs alone on increase of sleep rates (RR 1.67, 95% CI 1.12–2.50, p = 0.01). There were no serious adverse effects with related to acupuncture treatment in the included trials.
Conclusion
Acupuncture appears to be effective in treatment of insomnia. However, further large, rigorous designed trials are warranted.