Table 2.
Characteristics of RCTs examining somatic acupoint stimulation included in systematic review.
| First author, year, setting | Study design | Participants (n) | SAS type | Intervention | Follow-up | Sleep-related outcomes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intervention group(s) | Sham/control group(s) | ||||||
| H.T. Hoang, 2019, Vietnam [32] | Randomized controlled trial (registered ongoing/completed study) | Randomized = 114, 38 patients in each group | Self-administered acupressure | Self-acupressure group: standard care and true self-acupressure intervention protocol | Placebo comparator group: enhanced standard care + sham self-acupressure No intervention group: enhanced standard care |
Weekly phone call follow-up (during the four-week intervention) | ISI and sleep parameter in sleep diary |
|
| |||||||
| S.M. Zick, 2016, USA [22] | Randomized controlled trial (published study) | Randomized = 288 Completed = 228 Relaxing acupressure group: 74 (completed) Stimulating acupressure group: 70 (completed) Usual care group: 84 (completed) |
Self-administered acupressure | Relaxing acupressure (intervention 1), stimulating acupressure (intervention 2) | Usual care | 4-week follow-up | PSQI |
| Y.L. Zhao, 2015, China [29] | Randomized controlled study (published study, thesis) | Randomized = 208 Completed = 190 Intervention group: 93 (completed) Control drug group: 97 (completed) |
Acupuncture (including moxibustion as an additional treatment) | Acupuncture + moxibustion | Control drug: estazolam | 7-day follow-up | AIS and PSQI |
|
| |||||||
| W.R. Tan, 2014, Taiwan [30] | Experimental pilot study, randomized controlled study (published study | Randomized = 57 Completed = 45 Acupressure/oils group: 15 (completed) Acupressure only group: 16 (completed) Control group: 14 (completed) |
Self-administered acupressure | Acupressure + oils group: acupressure with 5% essential oil; acupressure includes kneading, pointing, pressing, and pushing. Acupressure only group: includes kneading, pointing, pressing, and pushing. |
Sham acupressure | NR | PSQI |
|
| |||||||
| S. Bokmand, 2013, Denmark [19] | Randomized controlled trial (published study) | Randomized = 94 Completed = 94 Intervention group: 31 (completed) Sham group: 29 (completed) No-treatment group: 34 (completed) |
Manual acupuncture | Manual acupuncture in the selected acupuncture points | Sham group: manual acupuncture in the selected sham points. No-treatment group: received no acupuncture. |
NR | Disturbed night sleep (rated as “yes” or “no”) |
|
| |||||||
| Y. Feng, 2011, China [21] | Randomized controlled trial (published study) | Randomized = 80 Completed = 80 Intervention group: 40 (completed) Control group: 40 (completed) |
Manual acupuncture | Manual acupuncture on the acupoints | Standard care with fluoxetine hydrochloride | NR | PSQI |
|
| |||||||
| S. David, 2010, USA [31] | Randomized controlled trial (registered ongoing/completed study) | Randomized = 65; | Acupuncture | Acupuncture | A validated sham acupuncture control | One month following the completion of intervention and six months after the conclusion of intervention | Insomnia reduction |
SAS: somatic acupoint stimulation; ISI: Insomnia Severity Index; PSQI: The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index; AIS: Athens insomnia scale; NR: not reported.