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Comparison of Magnetic Auriculotherapy, Laser Auriculotherapy and Their Combination for Treatment of Insomnia in the Elderly: A Double-Blinded Randomised Trial

BACKGROUND: Insomnia is common amongst the elderly. With the adverse effects of prolonged use of hypnotics, the exploration of noninvasive and nonpharmacological complementary methods for insomnia is warranted. Auriculotherapy (AT) is a therapeutic approach where specific points on the auricle are s...

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Autores principales: Suen, Lorna K. P., Molassiotis, A., Yueng, S. K. W., Yeh, C. H.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Hindawi 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6556291/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31239857
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2019/3651268
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author Suen, Lorna K. P.
Molassiotis, A.
Yueng, S. K. W.
Yeh, C. H.
author_facet Suen, Lorna K. P.
Molassiotis, A.
Yueng, S. K. W.
Yeh, C. H.
author_sort Suen, Lorna K. P.
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Insomnia is common amongst the elderly. With the adverse effects of prolonged use of hypnotics, the exploration of noninvasive and nonpharmacological complementary methods for insomnia is warranted. Auriculotherapy (AT) is a therapeutic approach where specific points on the auricle are stimulated to manage various physiological disorders. The purpose of this study is to determine the desirable treatment modality using AT to improve the sleep conditions of the elderly. METHODS: A three-arm double-blinded randomised trial was conducted on 145 eligible subjects. This study investigated three minimally invasive procedures, namely, laser auriculotherapy (LAT), magneto-auriculotherapy (MAT), and their combination. Seven auricular points were used. Treatment was performed three times a week, for six weeks. Subjects were assessed at baseline, six weeks, and follow-up after six weeks, three months, and six months. Generalised estimating equations were used to evaluate interactions amongst the groups over time based on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), sleep parameters using actigraphic monitoring, health-related quality of life (HRQOL) using SF-12, and PHQ-9 for depression status. RESULTS: The treatment effects of the three procedures were comparable. Significant improvements were found in all of the subjective measures (PSQI, HRQOL, and PHQ-9) for individual groups over time. Improvements in the objective sleep parameters using actigraphic monitoring were detected in subjects who received MAT procedures but not in those who received LAT. The combined MAT and LAT approach did not show any advantage over MAT. CONCLUSIONS: The treatment effects of the three procedures were comparable in subjective parameters but not by objective measures using actigraphic monitoring. Longer therapeutic course and more frequent administration of LAT may be considered in future trials to achieve the optimal treatment effect. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02970695, registered May 2016.
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spelling pubmed-65562912019-06-25 Comparison of Magnetic Auriculotherapy, Laser Auriculotherapy and Their Combination for Treatment of Insomnia in the Elderly: A Double-Blinded Randomised Trial Suen, Lorna K. P. Molassiotis, A. Yueng, S. K. W. Yeh, C. H. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med Research Article BACKGROUND: Insomnia is common amongst the elderly. With the adverse effects of prolonged use of hypnotics, the exploration of noninvasive and nonpharmacological complementary methods for insomnia is warranted. Auriculotherapy (AT) is a therapeutic approach where specific points on the auricle are stimulated to manage various physiological disorders. The purpose of this study is to determine the desirable treatment modality using AT to improve the sleep conditions of the elderly. METHODS: A three-arm double-blinded randomised trial was conducted on 145 eligible subjects. This study investigated three minimally invasive procedures, namely, laser auriculotherapy (LAT), magneto-auriculotherapy (MAT), and their combination. Seven auricular points were used. Treatment was performed three times a week, for six weeks. Subjects were assessed at baseline, six weeks, and follow-up after six weeks, three months, and six months. Generalised estimating equations were used to evaluate interactions amongst the groups over time based on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), sleep parameters using actigraphic monitoring, health-related quality of life (HRQOL) using SF-12, and PHQ-9 for depression status. RESULTS: The treatment effects of the three procedures were comparable. Significant improvements were found in all of the subjective measures (PSQI, HRQOL, and PHQ-9) for individual groups over time. Improvements in the objective sleep parameters using actigraphic monitoring were detected in subjects who received MAT procedures but not in those who received LAT. The combined MAT and LAT approach did not show any advantage over MAT. CONCLUSIONS: The treatment effects of the three procedures were comparable in subjective parameters but not by objective measures using actigraphic monitoring. Longer therapeutic course and more frequent administration of LAT may be considered in future trials to achieve the optimal treatment effect. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02970695, registered May 2016. Hindawi 2019-05-21 /pmc/articles/PMC6556291/ /pubmed/31239857 http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2019/3651268 Text en Copyright © 2019 Lorna K. P. Suen et al. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Suen, Lorna K. P.
Molassiotis, A.
Yueng, S. K. W.
Yeh, C. H.
Comparison of Magnetic Auriculotherapy, Laser Auriculotherapy and Their Combination for Treatment of Insomnia in the Elderly: A Double-Blinded Randomised Trial
title Comparison of Magnetic Auriculotherapy, Laser Auriculotherapy and Their Combination for Treatment of Insomnia in the Elderly: A Double-Blinded Randomised Trial
title_full Comparison of Magnetic Auriculotherapy, Laser Auriculotherapy and Their Combination for Treatment of Insomnia in the Elderly: A Double-Blinded Randomised Trial
title_fullStr Comparison of Magnetic Auriculotherapy, Laser Auriculotherapy and Their Combination for Treatment of Insomnia in the Elderly: A Double-Blinded Randomised Trial
title_full_unstemmed Comparison of Magnetic Auriculotherapy, Laser Auriculotherapy and Their Combination for Treatment of Insomnia in the Elderly: A Double-Blinded Randomised Trial
title_short Comparison of Magnetic Auriculotherapy, Laser Auriculotherapy and Their Combination for Treatment of Insomnia in the Elderly: A Double-Blinded Randomised Trial
title_sort comparison of magnetic auriculotherapy, laser auriculotherapy and their combination for treatment of insomnia in the elderly: a double-blinded randomised trial
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6556291/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31239857
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2019/3651268
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