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Meta-Analysis of the Effectiveness and Safety of Shugan Jieyu Capsules for the Treatment of Insomnia
Published on: February 17, 2023
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Beyond nighttime symptoms: acupuncture for daytime dysfunction improvement in insomnia-a meta-analysis.
Peiqi Li1, Qianwen Yang1, Jian Pei1
1Longhua Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Frontiers in Neurology
|March 19, 2026
Summary
Acupuncture significantly reduces insomnia severity and improves cognitive function, memory, and sleep quality in patients with chronic primary insomnia. This systematic review provides moderate-quality evidence for acupuncture
Area of Science:
- Integrative Medicine
- Sleep Science
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Insomnia involves persistent sleep difficulties, impacting daily function and quality of life.
- Acupuncture is a common treatment for insomnia, but its effect on daytime dysfunction needs more evidence.
- This systematic review addresses the gap in understanding acupuncture's efficacy for insomnia-related daytime dysfunction.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically review randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on acupuncture for chronic primary insomnia.
- To evaluate acupuncture's impact on insomnia severity, sleep quality, daytime dysfunction, cognitive function, and fatigue.
- To assess the quality of evidence using the Cochrane RoB2 tool and GRADE methodology.
Main Methods:
- Searched 6 electronic databases for 5,037 articles; 18 RCTs with 1,767 patients were included.
- Analyzed data using Review Manager 5.4 and Stata 13.
- Extracted and aggregated scores from Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), Auditory Verbal Memory Test (AVMT), and Fatigue Scale-14 (FS-14).
Main Results:
- Moderate-quality evidence indicates acupuncture significantly reduces insomnia severity and enhances memory and cognitive function.
- Low-quality evidence suggests acupuncture improves sleep quality and reduces fatigue in patients with chronic primary insomnia.
- Despite observed heterogeneity, synthesized outcomes demonstrated robust results.
Conclusions:
- Acupuncture is effective in alleviating insomnia severity and improving cognitive and memory deficits.
- Acupuncture shows promise in enhancing sleep quality and reducing fatigue associated with chronic primary insomnia.
- Further high-quality research is warranted to confirm findings and explore mechanisms.
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