ArticleNature and science of sleep2020
Efficacy and Safety of Electroacupuncture for Insomnia Disorder: A Multicenter, Randomized, Assessor-Blinded, Controlled Trial.
Article in Nature and science of sleep, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers, 11 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 11 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 35 citations in OpenAlex.
- Placebo Effect of Sham Acupuncture for Primary Insomnia: A Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials.Journal of sleep research · 2026Pooled it
- Sleep and endocrine effects of acupuncture for insomnia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Pooled it
- A meta-analysis study evaluating the effects of sleep quality on mental health among the adult population.BMC public health · 2025Pooled it
- Acupuncture for chronic insomnia disorder: a systematic review with meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Pooled it
- The dose-effect relationship between acupuncture and its effect on primary insomnia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- The blinding status and characteristics in acupuncture clinical trials: a systematic reviews and meta-analysis.Systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Efficacy of non-pharmacological interventions on sleep quality in patients with cancer-related insomnia: a network meta-analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2024Pooled it
- Efficacy and safety of multiple external therapies in patients with insomnia: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2024Pooled it
- Effectiveness of electroacupuncture on anxiety: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in psychology · 2023Pooled it
- Improving sleep quality leads to better mental health: A meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.Sleep medicine reviews · 2021Pooled it
- Comparative effectiveness and safety of acupuncture treatments for primary insomnia: a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomized trial.Frontiers in neurologyPooled it
- Effectiveness and Safety of Electroacupuncture in Patients with Treatment-Resistant Insomnia: A Randomized, Assessor-Blinded, Waitlist-Controlled Pilot Trial.Nature and science of sleep · 2026Trial
- Efficacy and Safety of Electroacupuncture Combined with Agomelatine Tablets Therapy in Treating Insomnia After Stroke.Journal of molecular neuroscience : MN · 2025Trial
- Electroacupuncture for treating cancer-related insomnia: a multicenter, assessor-blinded, randomized controlled, pilot clinical trial.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2022Trial
- Cost-Effectiveness of Pharmacopuncture Versus Conventional Acupuncture for Insomnia: An RCT-Based Economic Evaluation with a Markov Model.Neurology and therapy · 2026Article
- Letter to Effectiveness and Safety of Electroacupuncture in Patients with Treatment-Resistant Insomnia: A Randomized, Assessor-Blinded, Waitlist-Controlled Pilot Trial [Letter].Nature and science of sleep · 2026Article
- Electroacupuncture Attenuates Neuroinflammation in PCPA-Induced Insomnia Rats by Suppressing the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB p65 Pathway and M1 Microglial Activation.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2026Article
- Is Sham Acupuncture Equally Effective for Primary Insomnia? A Bayesian Network Meta-Analysis.Nature and science of sleep · 2025Review
- No One-Size-Fits-All Placebo: Advocating Context-Driven Placebo Control Selection in Acupuncture Randomized Controlled Trials for Insomnia [Letter].Nature and science of sleep · 2025Article
- Study on the Therapeutic Effect of Yu-Mu-Tiao-Shen Acupuncture on Rats with Autism Spectrum Disorder.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeTo evaluate the efficacy and safety of electroacupuncture in treating insomnia. PATIENTS AND
methodsIn a multicenter, randomized, assessor-blinded, controlled trial, 150 patients with DSM-5-diagnosed insomnia with Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) scores ≥ 15 were randomly assigned to three different groups that underwent 10 sessions of electroacupuncture, sham-electroacupuncture, or usual care for 4 weeks from October 2015 to June 2016 at four Korean medicine hospitals, Republic of Korea. The primary outcome included the ISI score at Week 4; the secondary outcomes included evaluations of Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), sleep diary, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), EuroQoL five dimension (EQ-5D), Patient Global Impression of Change (PGIC), and salivary melatonin and cortisol levels. Assessments were performed at baseline (Week 0) and at Weeks 2, 4, 8, and 12.
resultsCompared with the usual care group, electroacupuncture group showed a greater improvement in ISI, PSQI, sleep diary-derived variables and HADS and EQ-5D scores at Week 4. The effects mostly persisted until Week 12. There were no significant differences between electroacupuncture and sham-electroacupuncture groups at Week 4 in all outcome measures, except sleep diary-derived sleep efficiency. However, the ISI score showed a significant difference between these groups at Weeks 8 and 12. Treatment success as per PGIC was significantly and borderline higher for electroacupuncture compared with usual care and sham-electroacupuncture, respectively. No significant changes in salivary melatonin and cortisol levels before and after treatment were observed in all groups. No serious adverse events were reported. Blinding was maintained in the sham-electroacupuncture group.
conclusionTen sessions of electroacupuncture can improve the sleep quality of patients with insomnia without serious adverse effects. Thus, it can be recommended as an effective, safe, and well-tolerated intervention.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.