The DOI matches its Crossref record; 23 of the 24 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Acupuncture and Reflexology for Insomnia: A Feasibility Study
Abstract
Objective: To assess the feasibility of patient recruitment and retention, logistics of intervention and outcome measure sensitivity for a study designed to investigate the use of acupuncture and reflexology for the management of insomnia. Design: Feasibility study for a randomised controlled trial. Setting: University of Ulster Clinic. Patients: Thirteen participants with sleep disturbances. Interventions: Participants were randomised to receive one of three treatments, either: acupuncture (n = 5), reflexology (n = 4) or music therapy (n = 4). These treatments were administered six times over a 3-week period. Main outcome measures: The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Short Form 36 version 2 (SF-36v2) were recorded at baseline, post-treatment and follow-up. Each participant also completed a Sleep Diary. Results: Ten participants completed treatment. In the acupuncture and reflexology groups, a clinically relevant improvement in two out of three participants was observed on the PSQI following treatment. Music therapy produced no clinically important improvements. This study has demonstrated the feasibility of conducting an RCT on the effect of acupuncture and reflexology in primary insomnia using PSQI as the primary outcome measure. Modifications for a more rigorous study design have been discussed. Results from such a study would address the lack of high-quality evidence for the effectiveness of such therapies.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“A change of 3.0 is considered a clinically important difference in the PSQI score [30].”
From Online prenatal trial in mindfulness sleep management (OPTIMISM): Protocol for a pilot randomized controlled trial (2020) · cites this paper as [30]
In the citing paper
“Therefore, the effect of exercise on PSQI in favor of the intervention (low-quality evidence) was considered small.”
From Exercise can improve sleep quality: A systematic review and meta-analysis (2018) · cites this paper as Hughes et al., 2009
In the citing paper
“As to sleep quality, a three-point change in PSQI scores is considered indicative of a minimum clinically significant difference. ( 53 ) In this study, PSQI scores dropped by 3.17 points. Therefore, the positive effect of exercise on sleep quality (very low quality of evidence) was thought to be small.”
From Physical exercise as a therapeutic approach for adults with insomnia: Systematic review and meta-analysis (2022) · cites this paper as [53]
Citations
Cites
1 retracted
Tsay, S., Rong, J., & Lin, P. (2003) · Journal of Advanced Nursing · doi:10.1046/j.1365-2648.2003.02596.x · Cited by 73
RetractedThe Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index: a new instrument for psychiatric practice and research
Buysse, D. J., Reynolds, C. F., Monk, T. H., Berman, S. R., & Kupfer, D. J. (1989) · Psychiatry Research · doi:10.1016/0165-1781(89)90047-4 · Cited by 35,234
Epidemiology of insomnia: what we know and what we still need to learn
Ohayon, M. M. (2002) · Sleep Medicine Reviews · doi:10.1053/smrv.2002.0186 · Cited by 3,743 · cited 1×
“Participant baseline characteristics were variable. This may be due to the heterogeneity of the insomnia population. Insomnia has been associated with various socio-demographic variables and comorbid conditions.”
BackgroundHandbook of Psychological Assessment
Groth‐Marnat, G., & Wright, A. J. (2019) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/c2014-0-01970-3 · Cited by 1,247
Handbook of psychological assessment, 4th ed.
Groth‐Marnat, G. (2003) · Cited by 609
Evaluation of Chronic Insomnia
Sateia, M. J., Doghramji, K., Hauri, P. J., & Morin, C. M. (2000) · Sleep · doi:10.1093/sleep/23.2.1l · Cited by 466
General practice consultations: is there any point in being positive?
Thomas, K. (1987) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.294.6581.1200 · Cited by 420
Vase, L., Robinson, M. E., Verne, N. G., & Price, D. D. (2003) · Pain · doi:10.1016/s0304-3959(03)00073-3 · Cited by 377
Costs and quality of life of patients with multiple sclerosis in Europe
Kobelt, G. (2006) · Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry · doi:10.1136/jnnp.2006.090365 · Cited by 370
An American Academy of Sleep Medicine Review
Sateia, M. J., Doghramji, K., Hauri, P., & Morin, C. M. (2000) · Cited by 369
Cheuk, D. K., Yeung, W., Chung, K., & Wong, V. (2007) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd005472.pub2 · Cited by 228
Measuring outcomes in randomized clinical trials of insomnia treatments
Morin, C. M. (2003) · Sleep Medicine Reviews · doi:10.1053/smrv.2002.0274 · Cited by 172
Who is at risk for dropout from group cognitive-behavior therapy for insomnia?
Ong, J. C., Kuo, T. F., & Manber, R. (2008) · Journal of Psychosomatic Research · doi:10.1016/j.jpsychores.2007.10.009 · Cited by 168
Long, L., Huntley, A. L., & Ernst, E. (2001) · Complementary Therapies in Medicine · doi:10.1054/ctim.2001.0453 · Cited by 147
The Effectiveness of Acupressure in Improving the Quality of Sleep of Institutionalized Residents
Chen, M.-L., Lin, L.-C., Wu, S., & Lin, J. (1999) · The Journals of Gerontology Series A · doi:10.1093/gerona/54.8.m389 · Cited by 124
Tsay, S., & Chen, M. (2003) · International Journal of Nursing Studies · doi:10.1016/s0020-7489(02)00019-6 · Cited by 122
Evolution of insomnia: current status and future direction
Roth, T. G., & Drake, C. L. (2004) · Sleep Medicine · doi:10.1016/s1389-9457(04)90004-4 · Cited by 116
Does Deqi (Needle Sensation) Exist?
Park, H., Park, J., Lee, H., & Lee, H. (2002) · The American Journal of Chinese Medicine · doi:10.1142/s0192415x02000053 · Cited by 116
Insomnia: assessment and management in primary care.
(1999) · PubMed · Cited by 65
Sherman, K. J., Hogeboom, C. J., & Cherkin, D. C. (2001) · Complementary Therapies in Medicine · doi:10.1054/ctim.2001.0458 · Cited by 64
Treatment regimens of acupuncture for low back pain—A systematic review
Yuan, J., Kerr, D. P., Park, J., Liu, X., & McDonough, S. (2008) · Complementary Therapies in Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.ctim.2008.04.006 · Cited by 26
Self-citationAcupuncture for insomnia: a systematic review
McDonough, S., Rutherford, J., & Hughes, C. (2003) · Focus on Alternative and Complementary Therapies · doi:10.1111/j.2042-7166.2003.tb04035.x · Cited by 1
Self-citationThe effect of reflexology on sleep quality: a literature review
Hughes, C., Rutherford, J., & McDonough, S. (2003) · Focus on Alternative and Complementary Therapies · doi:10.1111/j.2042-7166.2003.tb04014.x · Cited by 1
Self-citation
Research works printed but not linked: 9
- BeckAT, BrownG, SteerRA. Beck Depression Inventory II Manual. 2nd edn. San Antonio: The Psychological Corporation, 1996.
- HuH. Book series of 100 famous Chinese clinical medical doctors 100 years—Yang Jia San. Beijing: Chinese Medical-Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technology Publishing House, 2001 (in Chinese).
- QiuML, WuX, ShengCR. Practical acupuncture study. Beijing: People's Military Surgeon Publishing House, 2001 (in Chinese).
- ShiXM. Acupuncture and moxibustion therapeutics. Beijing: People's Health Publishing House, 2001 (in Chinese).
- SunGJ. Study of acupuncture & moxibustion. Beijing: People's Health Publishing House, 2000 (in Chinese).
- XuemeiL, JingyiZ. Acupuncture patterns & practice. Seattle: Eastland Press, 1993.
- WilliamsonJ. A guide to precision reflexology. Dinton, UK: Quay Books, 1999.
- NormanL. The reflexology handbook. London: Piaktus, 1989.
- WareJE, KosinskiM, DeweyJE. How to score Version 2 of the SF-36 health survey. Lincoln: QualityMetric, 2000.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Exercise can improve sleep quality: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Banno, M., Harada, Y., Taniguchi, M., Tobita, R., Tsujimoto, H., Tsujimoto, Y., Kataoka, Y., & Noda, A. (2018) · PeerJ · doi:10.7717/peerj.5172 · Cited by 246
Robillard, R., Dion, K., Pennestri, M., Solomonova, E., Lee, E. K., Saad, M., Murkar, A., Godbout, R., Edwards, J. D., Quilty, L. C., et al. (2020) · Journal of Sleep Research · doi:10.1111/jsr.13231 · Cited by 164
“To characterize the discrepancy between behavioural sleep schedules and circadian preferences, a circadian preference misalignment index was calculated as the time difference between the sleep midpoint based on the actual bed and wake-up times reported on the PSQI, and the sleep midpoint based on preferred bed and wak…”
MethodInfluentialWang, C., Sun, Y.-L., & Zang, H.-X. (2013) · International Journal of Nursing Studies · doi:10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2013.03.008 · Cited by 172
Effect of Electroacupuncture on Insomnia in Patients With Depression
Yin, X., Li, W., Liang, T., Lu, B., Yue, H., Li, S., Zhong, V. W., Zhang, W., Li, X., Zhou, S. Y., et al. (2022) · JAMA Network Open · doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.20563 · Cited by 172
Yeung, W., Chung, K., Poon, M. M.-K., Ho, F. Y., Zhang, S., Zhang, Z.-J., Ziea, E. T.-C., & Wong, V. T. (2012) · Sleep Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.sleep.2012.06.003 · Cited by 144
“studies (Studies 20-24) [35-39] examined foot reflexology, including 4 as monotherapy.”
Background
Metadata
- Authors
- Hughes, C. M., McCullough, C. A., Bradbury, I., Boyde, C., Hume, D., Yuan, J., Quinn, F., & McDonough, S. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Ulster (GB)
- Health and Rehabilitation Sciences Research Institute, University of Ulster, Ulster, UK
- British Association of Dermatologists (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Hughes, Ciara M
- Venue
- Acupuncture in Medicine
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2009-12
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 163-168
- ISSN
- 0964-5284 (ISSN-L)
- 1759-9873
- OpenAlex
- W2146381169
- Cited by
- 136
- References
- 24
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 24 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 3.23
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Acupuncture in Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Complementary and alternative medicine › Acupuncture Treatment Research Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and related disorders
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Complementary and alternative medicine › Complementary and Alternative Medicine Studies
- Keywords
- acupuncture, reflexology, insomnia, primary insomnia, music therapy, sleep quality, patient recruitment and retention, feasibility, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, SF-36v2, sleep diary
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Combined Modality Therapy, Feasibility Studies, Female, Humans, Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders, Male, Massage, Middle Aged, Music Therapy, Surveys and Questionnaires, Sleep, Reproducibility of Results, Acupuncture Therapy, Treatment Outcome
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
