The efficacy of acupuncture in decreasing the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index scores of depressive patients with insomnia

Insomnia is a common side effect of depression that often persists despite the availability of effective antidepressants that considerably improve other symptoms of the disease. This single-blinded randomized controlled clinical trial aimed to examine the effects of acupuncture on the symptoms of insomnia in patients with depression using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). The study included 48 patients with depression who were randomly allocated into one of two groups (acupuncture and sham acupuncture groups). Both groups received antidepressant (fluoxetine 1 × 1 10-20 mg capsule/day) therapy throughout the study period. Additionally, acupuncture or sham acupuncture was administered five times a week for 2 weeks, and the self-evaluation questionnaire (PSQI) scores were used to measure the research output. The acupuncture and control groups exhibited a significant decrease and increase in the mean PSQI scores (from 14.50 ± 2.14 to 5.70 ± 2.25 and from 13.621.43 to 16.66 ± 1.83, respectively) between baseline and after completion of the 10th acupuncture session, respectively (p < 0.05). Two weeks after completion of acupuncture therapy, the PSQI scores were seen to improve in the acupuncture group [from 14.50 ± 2.14 to 5.58 ± 3.37 (p < 0.05)], but not in the control group [scores increased from 13.62 ± 1.43 to 17.25 ± 2.09 (p < 0.05)]. In conclusion, the findings of this study show that acupuncture, when combined with antidepressants, can decrease the PSQI scores of patients with depression.