ArticleNeurology and therapy2026
Cost-Effectiveness of Pharmacopuncture Versus Conventional Acupuncture for Insomnia: An RCT-Based Economic Evaluation with a Markov Model.
Article in Neurology and therapy, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
1 citing paper in PubMed.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
introductionPharmacopuncture, which combines traditional acupuncture with herbal medicine, may offer synergic therapeutic effects for insomnia management; however, evidence on its economic value remains limited. This study evaluates the cost-effectiveness of pharmacopuncture for insomnia disorder compared with other acupuncture modalities in South Korea.
methodsTwo Markov models were developed from a healthcare system perspective to assess the short- and long-term cost-effectiveness of pharmacopuncture. The models included four levels of insomnia severity based on the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI). Transition probabilities, medical costs, and utility weights were derived from a pragmatic randomized controlled trial (KCT0006803). A 4-week cycle length was applied to stimulate 100 participants with moderate-to-severe insomnia. The short- and long-term models employed 8- and 24-week time horizons, respectively. Effective outcomes included the proportion of remission (ISI < 8) and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs).
resultsPharmacopuncture incurred an incremental cost of KRW 368,000 (USD 270) per additional remission achieved over 8 weeks. Long-term analysis showed an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of KRW 16,940,000 (USD 12,600) per QALY. Sensitivity analyses revealed that cost-effectiveness was sensitive to pharmacopuncture pricing.
conclusionPharmacopuncture can be considered cost-effective if decision-makers accept an additional cost of KRW 400,000 (approximately USD 280) per responder over 2 months. At a willingness-to-pay threshold of KRW 27,660,000 (approximately USD 21,740), pharmacopuncture is a cost-effective option for managing insomnia compared with other acupuncture modalities.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.