The effect of transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation on sleep quality in chronic insomnia disorder

Acupuncture is one of the most common methods of complementary medicine. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation on sleep quality in the patients with chronic insomnia.

This study was a single-blind clinical trial in which 40 patients with chronic insomnia were randomly placed into intervention (TEAS) and control (sham TEAS) groups. The acupuncture points including SP6, HT7 and LI4 were selected according to the medical guideline of traditional Chinese medicine. The stimulation was performed for 8 sessions, twice a week for one month. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and actigraphy were used to evaluate the patients' sleep quality before and after intervention.

Results showed no significant differences in the mean scores of PSQI between the two groups before and after the intervention (p>0.05). In regard to the objective characteristics of sleep quality, total sleep time in the intervention group significantly increased (p=0.015). These alterations were not significant in the sham TEAS group (p=0.502).

The results showed that TEAS can be effective in increasing the total sleep time in the patients with chronic insomnia disorder and this effect can be detectable by a monitoring instrument such as actigraphy.