Acupuncture improves sleep quality and improves psychological health of insomnia patients

Patients with primary insomnia were randomly assigned into two groups – the acupuncture group, who received acupuncture treatment, and the control group, who received sham acupuncture treatment. The treatment was given three times a week for four weeks. Patients were asked to wear sleep monitors and complete questionnaires every two weeks for a total of eight weeks. The primary outcome was the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI). The secondary outcomes were sleep efficiency, sleep awakenings and total sleep time recorded by the Actigraphy, as well as scores of the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale and the Self-Rating Depression Scale.
Insomnia severity improved dramatically in the acupuncture group at 2 and 4 weeks post-treatment (p<0.001), 2 and 4 weeks follow-up (p<0.001). Similar significant improvements were also observed in sleep efficiency, total sleep time and depression scores. Remarkable decrements in sleep awakenings and anxiety scores were found in the acupuncture treatment group at 2 and 4 week follow-ups.

Source of news:
Yin et al. (2017) Efficacy and safety of acupuncture treatment on primary insomnia: a randomized controlled trial. Sleep Medicine 37:193-200.