Abstract
Objective: Chemotherapy‐associated insomnia is a highly prevalent complaint in breast cancer patients. This study was undertaken to evaluated the feasibility, preliminary efficacy and safety of acupuncture for chemotherapy‐associated insomnia in breast cancer patients. This pilot study would provide useful information for designing a larger clinical trial.
Methods: In this randomized, assessor‐blinded, wait‐list controlled trial, 30 breast cancer patients with insomnia under or post chemotherapy were randomly allocated to either the acupuncture group (n = 15) or the wait‐list control group (n = 15). Participants in the acupuncture group received acupuncture treatment (electroacupuncture plus auricular acupressure) twice a week for 6 weeks. Participants from the wait‐list control group received the same regime of acupuncture treatment after the 6‐week of waiting period. The Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) served as the primary outcome measurement. Depression, anxiety, multidimensional health‐related quality of life (QoL) were also evaluated. A linear mixed‐effects models were used for analyses.
Results: Twenty‐eight participants completed study (13 in the acupuncture group versus 15 in the wait‐list control group). At week‐6 post‐intervention, ISI score change from baseline showed significant between‐group difference favoring acupuncture group of −2.9 points (95% CI: −5.2 to −0.6, P = 0.014). The acupuncture group showed greater improvements in the total sleep time (P = 0.026), scores of PSQI (P = 0.012), HADS‐depression (P = 0.020), and FACT‐B (P < 0.001) compared with the control group. Improvements were maintained at week‐10 and week‐14 follow‐ups.
Conclusions: Acupuncture treatment was a feasible, acceptable, safe and effective intervention for chemotherapy‐associated insomnia in breast cancer patients under or post chemotherapy. A larger sample size randomized clinical trial is warranted to confirm the present findings.
Trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT03762694.
Methods: In this randomized, assessor‐blinded, wait‐list controlled trial, 30 breast cancer patients with insomnia under or post chemotherapy were randomly allocated to either the acupuncture group (n = 15) or the wait‐list control group (n = 15). Participants in the acupuncture group received acupuncture treatment (electroacupuncture plus auricular acupressure) twice a week for 6 weeks. Participants from the wait‐list control group received the same regime of acupuncture treatment after the 6‐week of waiting period. The Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) served as the primary outcome measurement. Depression, anxiety, multidimensional health‐related quality of life (QoL) were also evaluated. A linear mixed‐effects models were used for analyses.
Results: Twenty‐eight participants completed study (13 in the acupuncture group versus 15 in the wait‐list control group). At week‐6 post‐intervention, ISI score change from baseline showed significant between‐group difference favoring acupuncture group of −2.9 points (95% CI: −5.2 to −0.6, P = 0.014). The acupuncture group showed greater improvements in the total sleep time (P = 0.026), scores of PSQI (P = 0.012), HADS‐depression (P = 0.020), and FACT‐B (P < 0.001) compared with the control group. Improvements were maintained at week‐10 and week‐14 follow‐ups.
Conclusions: Acupuncture treatment was a feasible, acceptable, safe and effective intervention for chemotherapy‐associated insomnia in breast cancer patients under or post chemotherapy. A larger sample size randomized clinical trial is warranted to confirm the present findings.
Trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT03762694.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | A2-A3 |
| Number of pages | 2 |
| Journal | Journal of Integrative and Complementary Medicine |
| Volume | 27 |
| Issue number | 11 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Nov 2021 |
| Event | 2021 Society for Acupuncture Research Conference - Pandemics, Pain, & Public Health: Roles and Relevance of Traditional East Asian Medicine - Virtual, United States Duration: 14 Jun 2021 → 17 Jun 2021 https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/acm.2021.29097.abstracts |
