Acupuncture for perimenopausal insomnia: A systematic review and meta-analysis protocol

BACKGROUND: Perimenopausal insomnia (PI) is one of the most common complaints in women. Acupuncture is used to treat PI increasingly considering its less side effect. The subject of this study is to explore the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for PI. METHODS: All the randomized controlled trials(RCT) literatures of acupuncture for PI will be searched in the databases of MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, EMBASE, Springer, WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wan fang, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), Chinese Scientific Journal Database (VIP), and other available resources using the subject terms of "acupuncture” and “perimenopausal insomnia” and their synonyms. The languages are limited as English and Chinese. Non-RCT literatures will be screened and relative information will be extracted. Sleep quality values is considered as the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes include biochemical indicators, such as hormone levels, side effects caused by acupuncture, total scores on the insomnia severity index and traditional Chinese medicine symptom changes. RESULTS: This systematic review study will provide an evidence of acupuncture for PI. CONCLUSION: The study will give an explicit evidence to evaluate the effectiveness and side effects of acupuncture for PI. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42018092917.