Effectiveness of Acupressure on Sleep Quality Among Inpatients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Sleep quality in adult inpatients is frequently and severely disturbed by various factors such as noise, pain, and unfamiliar surroundings, which can impair disease recovery. Acupressure is widely used to improve sleep quality in hospitalized patients, but its overall effectiveness is unclear. This meta-analysis aims to analyze the efficacy of acupressure therapy on sleep quality and sleep parameters in adult inpatients. Eight electronic databases were searched for randomized controlled trials published before April 2024. Two researchers independently screened, assessed, and extracted data from the included studies. A total of 41 studies involving 3680 subjects were included. The meta-analysis showed a significant difference between the acupressure and control groups in sleep quality (SMD = -1.58, 95% CI [-1.85, -1.31]), total sleep time (SMD = 1.12, 95% CI [0.40, 1.83]), sleep efficiency (SMD = 0.90, 95% CI [0.29, 1.52]), sleep onset latency (SMD = -0.73, 95% CI [-1.14, -0.33]), and wake after sleep onset (SMD = -1.32, 95% CI [-2.55, -0.09]). The meta-regression results suggested that the number of sessions daily and the duration of each session were significant factors influencing heterogeneity. Acupressure is an effective intervention to improve sleep quality and sleep parameters in inpatients.