Mongolian Medical Acupuncture Improves Sleep Quality in Patients with Primary Insomnia

摘要

The aim of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic effects of the Mongolian medical warm needle acupuncture (MMA) in treating patients with primary insomnia. 40 patients with primary insomnia were randomly divided into 2 groups as (1) Control Group, who received automatic neural balance regulation (ANBR), and (2) MMA Group, who received ANBR plus MMA treatment. The MMA treatment was administered to 5 acupuncture points according to traditional Mongolian medicine. Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to quantitatively measure patients' outcome at time 0 (prior to study involvement), time 1 (after 8-week treatment), and time 2 (follow-up examination 4-week post-treatment). Multivariate analyses were conducted using treatment, gender, time, and age as factors and covariates. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to evaluate internal homogeneity. MMA significantly reduced PSQI in insomniac patients compared with control (t = 9.59, p < 0.001). Six component scores of the PSQI were internally consistent (Cronbach's alpha coefficient = 0.89). Out of the 6 components of PSQI, MMA significantly improved subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, and daytime dysfunction. The Mongolian medical warm needle acupuncture combined with automatic neural balance regulation has significant therapeutic effects in treating primary insomnia.