Clinical Observations on the Treatment of Insomnia by Acupuncture as Main Therapy

Objective To explore the efficacy of acupuncture as main therapy in treating insomnia.Methods A randomized controlled trial was designed.One hund red and sixty insomnia patients were recruited.Of them,the treatment group of 86 cases were treated by acupuncture as main therapy and the control group of 74 cases,with oral medicament.A regular follow-up was performed.Treatment cont i nued for four courses.The therapeutic effects were evaluated at the end of trea tment.The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index(PSQI)was used to count the score bef ore and after treatment.Results The total efficacy rate was 95.35% in the trea tment group and significantly higher than 77.03% in the control group(P0.0 5).There was a statistically significant difference in PSQI score between pre-and posttreatment in both groups(P0.01).The score was decreased signific antly more in the treatment group than in the control group(P0.01).There was also a statistically significant difference in pretreatment-posttreatment P SQI score difference between the two groups(P0.01).Conclusion Acupuncture is an exactly ef fective and safe method for treating insomnia.It can improve the patent's qual ity of life and is a substitutive therapy worthy of popularization.