Auriculotherapy for people with sleep disorders: A systematic review

and purpose: Considering the importance of analyzing the evidence of complementary and alternative medicine practices, this study aimed to evaluate clinical trials on auriculotherapy in people with sleep disorders.

Systematic review carried out in eight databases: Scopus, MEDLINE, LILACS, IBECS, EMBASE, The Cochrane Library, PsycINFO and Web of Science. The recommendations of the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions and of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement were followed. Bias analysis of the studies was carried with the Risk-of-Bias Tool For Randomized Trials (RoB2). The quality of the systematic review was assessed by using AMSTAR 2 (A MeaSurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews). The inclusion criteria were randomized clinical trial, without restrictions on language or publication date, using auriculotherapy in people with sleep disorders.

A total of 464 articles were identified, and 14 were included in the study. The studies evaluated the efficacy of auriculotherapy in improving sleep quality in older people, perimenopausal and postmenopausal women, breast cancer survivors, college students, people with dependence on heroin and other substances, and veteran soldiers with posttraumatic stress disorder, and in the treatment of insomnia, anxiety and depression in adults. The 14 studies had some risk of bias. The rating of the methodological quality of the review by AMSTAR 2 was considered high.

Auriculotherapy had positive effects individually and when combined with conventional treatments for insomnia.