Effectiveness of Auricular Acupuncture for Insomnia: An Overview of Systematic Reviews. (14th May 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Huang, Jinke; Shen, Min; Qin, Xiaohui; Huang, Yong
• Other Names: Ali-Shtayeh Mohammed S. Academic Editor.
• Is Part Of: Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine. Volume 2020(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-05-14
• Subjects: Alternative medicine -- Periodicals; 615.505
• DOI: 10.1155/2020/6920902
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1741-427X

Abstract

Abstract : Objectives . The effectiveness of auricular acupuncture (AA) for insomnia is far from uniform. The aim of this overview was to summarize and critically evaluate the evidence from systematic reviews (SRs)/meta-analysis (MAs) and provide an overall verdict about the therapeutic value of AA for insomnia. Methods . A search of relevant literature for SRs/MAs was performed on major medical databases. The methodological quality was assessed using the Assessing the Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews 2 (AMSTAR-2) and the evidence quality was assessed using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE). Results . Seven SRs/MAs were deemed eligible for the present overview. According to the evaluation results of AMSTAR-2, the methodological quality of all included SRs/MAs was critically low. Consistent methodological deficiencies were item 2 (the lack of a protocol), item 4 (the lack of a specific search strategy), item 7 (the lack of a list of excluded studies), and item 15 (the lack of an assessment of publication bias). For GRADE, of the 17 outcomes, only 1 (5.9%) was rated of high-quality, 4 (23.5%) were rated of moderate-quality, and the remaining 12 (70.6%) were rated of low-or critically low-quality. Descriptive analysis of the outcomes reveals a positive effect of AA for insomnia. Conclusions . AA may be beneficial for insomnia, but the evidence is plagued by important limitations, e.g., the poor quality of SRs/MAs and primary studies.