The Effect of Acupuncture Point Therapy on Insomnia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Born in a society where traditional as well as modern medication is used equally on daily basis, it is puzzling yet intriguing to find how, albeit the lack of scientific evidence, the traditional ways are widely adopted in every Chinese family. Various studies are conducted in search for the mechanisms as well as the relative effectiveness of the traditional acupoint therapy as opposed to the Western medicines, yet individually viewing, it is hard to reach a conclusion. Therefore, a meta-analysis is done by collecting and analyzing results from research from multiple reliable databases, trying to determine the strength of acupoint therapy in treating insomnia, a common yet frustrating disease. In this meta-analysis, the methods and results of 13 studies are included, all of which focus on treating primary or secondary (specific causes are analyzed in subgroups) insomnia in humans using randomized control trials. After being selected from four main medical databases, including PubMed, Embase, Psycinfo, and Wanfang, the data were sorted and processed using the Reviewing Manager. Papers that lack credibility or have a low level of relevance were excluded, and the remaining studies showed that all experimental groups using real acupoints yielded a statistically significant improvement in sleep quality in the patients than those in the control group, and finally, a conclusion is drawn that the acupuncture therapy is as, if not more, effective as modern western medicine on treating insomnia.