[Acupuncture for perimenopausal early-wake insomnia: a randomized controlled trial]

To observe the clinical effect of acupuncture for perimenopausal early-wake insomnia.

A total of 60 patients with perimenopausal early-wake insomnia were randomly divided into an observation group (30 cases, 3 cases dropped off) and a control group (30 cases, 2 cases dropped off, 2 cases were removed). In the observation group, acupuncture was applied at Baihui (GV 20), Yintang (GV 24⁺), Anmian (Extra), Hegu (LI 4), Shenmen (HT 7), Taichong (LR 3), Taixi (KI 3), etc., once every other day, 3 times a week. In the control group, oryzanol tablets were taken orally, 20 mg each time, 3 times a day. Both groups were treated for 4 weeks. Before and after treatment, the sleep actigraphy (ACT) was used to measure the effective sleep time, sleep quality, wake-up time, wake-up frequency, each wake-up time, and the Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) score and early-wake score were compared in the two groups, and the clinical effect was assessed.

After treatment, compared before treatment, the effective sleep time was prolonged and the sleep quality was improved (P<0.05), the wake-up time, each wake-up time were shortened and wake-up frequency was decreased (P<0.05), the PSQI score and early-wake score were decreased (P<0.05) in the observation group. After treatment, the wake-up frequency, PSQI score and early-wake score were decreased in the control group (P<0.05). The effective sleep time, sleep quality, wake-up time, wake-up frequency, each wake-up time, PSQI score and early-wake score after treatment in the observation group were superior to the control group (P<0.05). The total effective rate was 88.9% (24/27) in the observation group, which was higher than 38.5% (10/26) in the control group (P<0.05).

Acupuncture can increase the effective sleep time and improve sleep quality in patients with perimenopausal early-wake insomnia.