Efficacy observation on Governor Vessel-unblocking and mind-calming acupuncture for insomnia / 针灸推拿医学（英文版）

ABSTRACT

Objective:To observe the effect of Governor Vessel-unblocking and mind-calming acupuncture on insomnia and further develop the academic idea on Gao’s lineage acupuncture. Methods:A total of 68 insomnia cases were randomly allocated into an acupuncture group (n=34) and a medication group (n=34) according to their sequences of consultation. Patients in the acupuncture group received acupuncture treatment once a day, 5 d a week, for 4 weeks. Patients in the medication group took 1 mg of Estazolam before sleep for each dose, one dose a day, for 4 weeks. Before and after treatment, the sleep quality was evaluated using the Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI), and the efficacy was assessed using the PSQI reductive rate. Results:After treatment, the global PSQI score and scores of each component in the acupuncture group were significantly decreased (allP<0.01). The global PSQI score in the medication group was significantly decreased (P<0.01). Except for sleep disturbance, scores of the rest of components were significantly decreased (P<0.01 orP<0.05). The between-group difference was statistically significant in global PSQI score (P<0.01). Except for sleep latency and duration, scores of the sleep quality, efficiency, disturbance and daytime dysfunction in the acupuncture group were significantly lower than those in the medication group (allP<0.05). In addition, the recovery and marked effect rate in the acupuncture group was significantly higher than that in the medication group (P<0.05). Conclusion:The Governor Vessel-unblocking and mind-calming acupuncture is safe, reliable for insomnia and has better efficacy than Estazolam.