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Meta-Analysis
. 2025 Jan 3;104(1):e41123.
doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000041123.

Efficacy of electroacupuncture in the treatment of insomnia in cancer patients: A meta-analysis

Ke Li  1 , Ying Luo
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Efficacy of electroacupuncture in the treatment of insomnia in cancer patients: A meta-analysis

Ke Li et al. Medicine (Baltimore). .

Abstract

Background: The purpose of this meta-analysis of current studies was to assess the efficacy of electroacupuncture for cancer-related insomnia.

Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted encompassing randomized controlled trials examining the efficacy of electroacupuncture in treating cancer-related insomnia across CNKI, VIP, Wang Fang, PubMed, Embase, Cochrane library, and Web of Science, with a search deadline of December 26, 2023. The Cochrane manual's risk-of-bias evaluation was used for quality assessment, while Stata 15.0 was used for the data analysis.

Results: Eight randomized controlled studies involving 537 individuals were finally included. Meta-analysis results suggested that electroacupuncture improved total sleep time [SMD = 0.68, 95% CI (0.31, 1.06)], sleep efficiency [SMD = 1.26, 95% CI (0.02, 2.50)], and reduced Pittsburgh sleep quality index [SMD = -0.44, 95% CI (-0.63, -0.25)], insomnia severity index [SMD = -1.23, 95% CI (-1.88, -0.58)], and sleep onset latency [SMD = -0.76, 95% CI (-1.36, -0.15)] in cancer patients.

Conclusion: Based on the current study, we found that electroacupuncture may have a better effect on insomnia in cancer patients.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Literature search flow chart.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Risk bias of graph.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Risk bias of summary.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Forest plot of meta-analysis of Pittsburgh sleep quality index.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Forest plot of meta-analysis of total sleep time.
Figure 6.
Figure 6.
Forest plot of meta-analysis of insomnia severity index.
Figure 7.
Figure 7.
Forest plot of meta-analysis of Pittsburgh sleep onset latency.
Figure 8.
Figure 8.
Forest plot of meta-analysis of Pittsburgh sleep efficiency.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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