Effectiveness and safety of electroacupuncture for insomnia: A protocol for an overview of systematic reviews and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Insomnia is a common disease characterized by difficulty falling and/or staying asleep, and accompanied by irritability or fatigue during wakefulness. It is widely reported that insomnia is one of the most extensive mental disorders which the incidence rate is estimated to be about 10%. Insomnia can have serious influences on patients health and quality of life. Electro acupuncture (EA) is reported to be efficacious and widely used for the treatment of insomnia in China. This overview aims to summarize the available evidence from current systematic reviews for the efficacy of electroacupuncture therapy for insomnia. METHODS: We will make a comprehensive retrieval in 7 databases as following: 1. Embase; 2. Cochrane Library; 3. Pubmed; 4. Chinese databases SinoMed (previously called the Chinese Biomedical Database); 5. Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI); 6. Chinese Scientific Journals Database (VIP); 7. Wanfang Data (WF). The time is limited from the construction of the library to August 2020. We will use the Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews-2 (AMSTAR-2) tool to evaluate methodological quality. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis Protocols (PRISMA-P) will be used in the report checklist to assess the quality of reports in the study. The Grading of the Classification of Recommendations, Evaluation, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) will be used to evaluate the included SRs and meta-analysis. Our reviewers will conduct systematic reviews, qualification evaluation, data extraction, methodological quality and evidence quality screening in pairs. The outcomes of interest include: The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), The Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), Athens Insomnia Scale, Sleep parameters measured by either subjective or objective approaches, such as actigraphy, polysomnogram, and electroencephalogram. Or any other scale used to assess the level of illness. The evidence will be synthesized where appropriate based on patient subgroups and outcomes. RESULTS: The results will be published in a peer-reviewed journal. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: INPLASY202080087. CONCLUSION: This overview will provide comprehensive evidence of EA for patients with insomnia.