Acupuncture for insomnia symptoms in hypertensive patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Jieying Zhang; Xuancheng Zhou; Hailun Jiang; Weiming Zhu; Hao Chi; Lai Jiang; Shengke Zhang; Jinyan Yang; Shizhe Deng; Boxuan Li; Bifang Zhuo; Menglong Zhang; Beidi Cao; Zhihong Meng

doi:10.3389/fneur.2024.1329132

Acupuncture for insomnia symptoms in hypertensive patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Front Neurol. 2024 Feb 19:15:1329132. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2024.1329132. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Jieying Zhang^#^{1

2

3}, Xuancheng Zhou^#⁴, Hailun Jiang^#^{1

2

3}, Weiming Zhu^#^{1

2

3}, Hao Chi⁴, Lai Jiang⁴, Shengke Zhang⁴, Jinyan Yang⁴, Shizhe Deng^{1

2

3}, Boxuan Li^{1

2

3}, Bifang Zhuo^{1

2

3}, Menglong Zhang^{1

2

3}, Beidi Cao^{1

2

3}, Zhihong Meng^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin, China.
² Graduate School, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin, China.
³ National Clinical Research Center for Chinese Medicine Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Tianjin, China.
⁴ Clinical Medical College, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Purpose: In the realm of pain management, traditional Chinese medicine, specifically acupuncture, has garnered increasing attention. This meta-analysis pioneers the evaluation of acupuncture's effectiveness in treating insomnia among hypertensive patients.

Methods: We conducted a comprehensive search across several databases-PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, WANFANG, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Sinomed, and the Chinese Journal of Science and Technology (VIP). Additionally, forward and backward articles of studies published from the inception of these databases until 10 September 2023, were reviewed. This systematic review and meta-analysis included all randomized controlled trials (RCTs) focusing on acupuncture for insomnia in hypertensive patients, without imposing language or date restrictions. We rigorously assessed all outcome measures reported in these trials. The evidence was synthesized by calculating the difference between mean differences (MD) in symptom change. The quality of the evidence was determined using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool. This study is registered with PROSPERO under number CRD42023461760.

Results: Our analysis included 16 RCTs, comprising 1,309 patients. The findings revealed that acupuncture was significantly more effective than the control group in reducing insomnia symptoms, as indicated by a greater decrease in the PSQI score (MD = -3.1, 95% CI [-3.77 to -2.62], p < 0.00001). Additionally, improvements in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure were more pronounced in the acupuncture group compared to the control group (SBP: MD = -10.31, 95% CI [-16.98 to -3.64], p = 0.002; DBP: MD = -5.71, 95% CI [-8.19 to -3.23], p < 0.00001). These results suggest that acupuncture not only improves sleep quality but also lowers blood pressure in patients suffering from hypertension and insomnia. Further research is warranted to elucidate optimal acupuncture points and the duration of treatment for maximized therapeutic effect.Systematic review registration:https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero, CRD42023461760.

Keywords: acupuncture; complementary and alternative therapies; hypertension; insomnia; sleep disorders.

Publication types

Systematic Review

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Funding for the research was provided by the National Key Research and Development Program of the Ministry of Science and Technology (grant number: 2018YFC1706001).