Traditional East Asian Herbal Medicine for Post-Stroke Insomnia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Post-stroke insomnia (PSI) is a highly prevalent complication after stroke. Current evidence of psychotropic drug use for PSI management is scarce and indicates harmful adverse events (AEs). Traditional East Asian herbal medicine is a widely used traditional remedy for insomnia. However, so far, no study has systematically reviewed the efficacy and safety of traditional east asian herbal medicine (HM) for PSI. Therefore, we perform meta-analysis to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of HM for PSI. After a comprehensive electronic search of 15 databases, we review the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of HM use as monotherapy for PSI. Our outcomes were the Pittsburgh sleep quality index and total effective rate. In total, 24 RCTs were conducted with 1942 participants. HM showed statistically significant benefits in sleep quality. It also appeared to be safer than psychotropic drugs in terms of AEs, except when the treatment period was two weeks. The methods used for RCTs were poor, and the quality of evidence assessed was graded “low” or “moderate.” The findings of this review indicate that the use of HM as a monotherapy may have potential benefits in PSI treatment when administered as an alternative to conventional medications. However, considering the methodological quality of the included RCTs, we were uncertain of the clinical evidence. Further, well-designed RCTs are required to confirm these findings.