Sleep medicine reviews
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Sleep medicine reviews · Feb 2018
Review Meta AnalysisAcupressure effect on sleep quality: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Acupressure is a non-invasive treatment in which pressure is applied to specific body points. Following public health concerns about poor sleep quality and increasing interest in alternative treatments, a systematic review and a meta-analysis were designed to evaluate the effects of acupressure on the quality of sleep. Ten English (PubMed, CENTRAL, CINAHL etc.) and five Chinese (CNKI, WANFANG etc.) databases were searched and the validity of the eligible studies was critically appraised. ⋯ Standardized treatment protocols involved 3-5 kg of pressure for one to five minutes per acupoint, delivered three to seven times a week for three to four weeks with the HT7 (Shenmen) acupoint used in most procedures. A high risk of bias due to absence of blinding of patients and personnel remains a serious methodological challenge for acupressure trials and poses a main limitation to presented results. This review has been registered in PROSPERO (registration number CRD42015025013).