Auricular acupuncture in insomnia treatment

Insomnia is a common problem and auricular acupuncture is an alternative treatment method increasingly used by health personnel. In auricular acupuncture, acupuncture needles are placed at specific points on the outer ear.

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SBU Enquiry Service

Consists of structured literature searches to highlight studies that can address questions received by the SBU Enquiry Service from Swedish healthcare or social service providers. We assess the risk of bias in systematic reviews and when needed also quality and transferability of results in health economic studies. Relevant references are compiled by an SBU staff member, in consultation with an external expert when needed.

Question

What systematic reviews are there on the effect of auricular acupuncture on insomnia?

Identified literature

No relevant systematic review was identified but 4 primary studies were identified [1-4]. The primary studies were not assessed for risk of bias.

This is an update of a previous report on auricular acupuncture in insomnia treatment [5].

References

  1. Bergdahl L, Broman JE, Berman AH, Haglund K, von Knorring L, Markstrom A. Auricular Acupuncture and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia: A Randomised Controlled Study. Sleep Disorders Print 2016;2016:7057282.
  2. Garner BK, Hopkinson SG, Ketz AK, is CA, Trego LL. Auricular Acupuncture for Chronic Pain and Insomnia: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Medical Acupuncture 2018;30:262-272.
  3. Chung KF, Yeung WF, Yu BY, Leung FC, Zhang SP, Zhang ZJ, et al. Acupuncture with or without combined auricular acupuncture for insomnia: a randomised, waitlist-controlled trial. Acupuncture in Medicine 2018;36:2-13.
  4. Chung KF, Yeung WF, Yu BY, Zhang SP, Zhang ZJ. Combined electroacupuncture and auricular acupuncture for primary insomnia: a randomised controlled trial of dose-response effect. Hong Kong Medical Journal 2019;25 Suppl 2:28-33.
  5. SBU. Öronakupunktur vid behandling av sömnsvårigheter. Stockholm: Statens beredning för medicinsk och social utvärdering (SBU); 2015. SBU:s upplysningstjänst. Available from: https://www.sbu.se/oronakupunktur.
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Published: Report no: ut202027 Registration no: SBU 2020/110
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Literature search

MedLine via Ovid 200225 
Auricular acupuncture in insomnia
Search terms Items found
Population:
1. exp Sleep Wake Disorders/ 87 113
2. exp Sleep/ 77 794
3. sleep*.ab,ti 175 324
4. dyssomnia.ab,ti 60
5. parasomnia.ab,ti 548
6. somnolence.ab,ti 5 450
7. insomnia.ab,ti 19 2874
8. hypersomn*.ab,ti 2 423
9. or/1-8 219 057
Intervention:
10. Acupuncture, Ear/ 415
11. auricular acupuncture.ab,kw,ti 350
12. ear acupuncture.ab,kw, ti 144
13. NADA protocol:ab,kw,ti 20
14. or/10-13 720
Combined sets:
15. 9 and 14 62
Limits:
16. Limit 14 to ye=”2014-Current” 37
Final   37

 

Embase via embase.com 200225 
Auricular acupuncture in insomnia
Search terms Items found
Population:
1. ‘sleep disorder’/exp 256 001
2. (sleep* OR dyssomnia OR parasomnia OR somnolence OR insomnia OR hypersomn*):ti, ab 292 034
3. 1 OR 2 393 278
Intervention:
4. ‘auricular acupuncture’/de 330
5. ((ear OR auricular) NEAR/2 acupuncture):ti,ab,kw 931
6. ‘nada protocol’:ti,ab,kw 55
7. 4 OR 5 OR 6 1093
Combined sets:
8. 3 AND 6 103
Limits:
9. [2014-2020]/py 64
Final   64

 

Scopus via scopus.com 200224 
Auricular acupuncture in insomnia
Search terms Items found
Population:
1. TITLE-ABS-KEY(sleep* OR dyssomnia OR parasomnia OR somnolence OR insomnia OR hypersomn*) 360 151
Intervention:
2. TITLE-ABS-KEY((ear OR auricular W/2 acupuncture) 983
3. TITLE-ABS-KEY(“NADA protocol”) 48
Combined sets:
4. 1 AND 3 100
Limits:
5. LIMIT-TO(PUBYEAR, 2014-2020) 61
Final   61

 

CINAHL via ebsco.com 200224 
Auricular acupuncture in insomnia
Search terms Items found
Population:
1. MH “Sleep Disorders+” OR MH “Sleep+” 19 247
2. TI (Sleep OR Dyssomnia O Parasomnia OR Somnolence OR Insomnia OR Hypersomn*) OR AB(Sleep* OR Dyssomnia OR Parasomnia OR Somnolence OR Insomnia OR Hypersomn*) 30 139
3. 1 OR 2 34 384
Intervention:
4. MH “Acupuncture, Ear” 326
5. TI((ear OR auricular) N2 acupuncture) OR AB((ear OR auricular) N2 acupuncture) OR SU((ear OR auricular) N2 acupuncture) 639
6. TI “NADA protocol” OR AB “NADA protocol” OR SU “NADA protocol” 19
7. 4 OR 5 OR 6 642
Combined sets:
8. 3 AND 7 44
Limits:
9. Published dates: 20140101-20191231 27
Final   27

 

PsycInfo via ebsco.com 200224 
Auricular acupuncture in insomnia
Search terms Items found
Population:
1. DE “Sleep Wake Disorders” OR DE “Hypersomnia” OR DE ”Insomnia” OR DE ”Parasomnias” 17 771
2. TI (Sleep OR Dyssomnia O Parasomnia OR Somnolence OR Insomnia OR Hypersomn*) OR AB(Sleep* OR Dyssomnia OR Parasomnia OR Somnolence OR Insomnia OR Hypersomn*) 76 377
3. 1 OR 2 77 149
Intervention:
4. DE “Acupuncture” 1 461
5. TI((ear OR auricular) N2 acupuncture) OR AB((ear OR auricular) N2 acupuncture) OR 80
6. TI “NADA protocol” OR AB “NADA protocol” OR SU “NADA protocol” 11
7. 4 OR 5 1 469
Combined sets:
8. 3 AND 7 81
Limits:
9. Published dates: 20140101-20191231 28
Final   28

 

Allied and complementary medicine via Dialog 200224 
Auricular acupuncture in insomnia
Search terms Items found
Population:
1. SU.EXACT.EXPLODE(“SLEEP DISORDERS”) 1 097
2. ti (Sleep OR Dyssomnia O Parasomnia OR Somnolence OR Insomnia OR Hypersomn*) OR ab(Sleep* OR Dyssomnia OR Parasomnia OR Somnolence OR Insomnia OR Hypersomn*) 3 045
3. 1 OR 2 3 215
Intervention:
4. SU.EXACT(“EAR ACUPUNCTURE”) 447
5. ti(“auricular acupuncture” OR “ear acupuncture”) OR ab(“auricular acupuncture” OR “ear acupuncture”) 213
6. 4 OR 5 520
Combined sets:
7. 3 AND 6 25
Limits:
8. Published date: 2014-2020 8
Final   8
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