Jin 2003.

Methods	Design: parallel‐group Randomisation method: information not available Method of allocation concealment: information not available Blinding: information not available Stratification: not used
Participants	Inclusion: inpatients in medical ward with insomnia Exclusion: nil Number of participants: intervention: 64; control: 56 Number of males: overall 51 Age (years): overall mean 42 (SD 8.7) Specific diagnoses/diagnostic subtypes: information not available Associated disease: information not available Duration of disorder (years): information not available Previous treatments: information not available
Interventions	Intervention group (acupressure): acupressure to the following auricular acupoints: Shenmen, occiput and subcortical area. Patients with liver problems were additionally treated at liver and gallbladder areas. Patients with dysharmony in qi of stomach were additionally treated at spleen and stomach areas. Patients with deficiency in Yin were additionally treated at heart and kidney areas. Patients with deficiencies in heart and spleen were additionally treated at heart, liver and spleen areas. Seeds were attached to a small bandage to apply to acupoints with pressure for a few seconds. Participants were advised to apply pressure to the seeds 2 to 3 times per day. Seeds were left in place for 3 to 5 days, then rest for 1 to 2 days (1 course). Control group (no specific treatment): no specific treatment Duration of treatment: 10 days
Outcomes	Total sleep duration
Notes	Duration of follow‐up: 10 days Dropouts: none Comparability of groups at baseline: no significant differences between the groups in total sleep duration at baseline Risk of bias: high
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Sequence generation was not described
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Allocation concealment was not described
Blinding (performance bias and detection bias) All outcomes	High risk	Blinding was not described. Since the intervention involves acupuncture, it is highly likely that the treating physicians and patients were not blinded.
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Low risk	There were no dropouts
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Unclear risk	Trial protocol was not available to judge whether there was selective reporting
Other bias	High risk	Treatment regimen varied among patients and might introduce bias. No placebo or sham control was used and hence there might be a placebo effect.