Effectiveness and safety of acupuncture in treating sleep disturbance in dementia patients: A PRISMA-compliant systematic review and limitations of current evidence

BACKGROUND: Dementia is of increasing importance, as it is a major public health problem worldwide. Sleep disturbance is common in dementia patients and may be associated with worse cognitive symptoms or behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia. Non-pharmacological approaches, such as acupuncture, for treating this clinical condition are gaining importance. This study aimed to comprehensively search and analyze randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs) of acupuncture in treating sleep disturbance or sleep disorders in dementia patients METHODS: A comprehensive search was conducted from 12 electronic databases on December 2, 2020. We included RCTs reporting the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture in treating sleep disorders or disturbance in dementia patients. The methodological quality of the included studies was assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration's risk-of-bias tool. RESULTS: Five articles with four original RCTs met the inclusion criteria. These studies reported clinical data suggesting that adjuvant acupuncture for hypnotics, and ear acupressure in dementia patients with sleep disorders or sleep disturbance may have clinical benefits in certain sleep-related parameters and total effective rate (TER). Only 1 study reported the safety profile of the intervention, and no acupuncture-related adverse reactions were reported. Some studies compared 2 kinds of acupuncture methods, and found that specific acupuncture methods were superior to conventional acupuncture in improving sleep-related parameters, cognitive function and TER. The methodological quality of the included clinical studies was not high. CONCLUSIONS: There were limited acupuncture studies on this topic. Given the number of studies included and their sample size, methodological quality, and heterogeneities, clinically relevant conclusions could not be drawn. Further clinical studies are needed in this field considering its urgency and importance.