AUTHOR=Song ShiWei , Chen Hao , Fu HongFang 

TITLE=Systematic review and meta-analysis on the efficacy and safety of acupuncture for perimenopausal insomnia

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neurology

VOLUME=Volume 16 - 2025

YEAR=2025

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neurology/articles/10.3389/fneur.2025.1649856

DOI=10.3389/fneur.2025.1649856

ISSN=1664-2295

ABSTRACT=BackgroundPerimenopausal insomnia is a chronic physical and mental health disorder that plagues women. However, there are no systematic reviews or meta-analyses on the treatment of perimenopausal insomnia with acupuncture alone. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis to assess the efficacy and safety of acupuncture alone in improving perimenopausal insomnia.MethodsThis study searched for randomized controlled trials on acupuncture treatment for perimenopausal insomnia from seven major literature databases in both Chinese and English: Web of Science, PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, VIP database, and Wan-fang database. The quality of the studies was assessed according to the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. Meta-analysis was conducted using Rev Man 5.4 software.ResultsThe study comprised nine randomized controlled trials involving 968 people. The results showed that acupuncture was superior to the control group in improving the effective rate (OR: 3.30; 95% CI: 2.18–4.98; p < 0.00001), PSQI score (MD: −3.26; 95% CI: −4.62– −1.90; p < 0.00001), FSH (MD: −11.01; 95% CI: −15.39– −6.63; p < 0.00001), KMI score (p < 0.05), 5-HT (p < 0.05), NE (p < 0.05), MENQOL score (p < 0.05), early-wake score (p < 0.05), sleep actigraphy monitoring (p < 0.05), and Traditional Chinese Medicine symptom scores (p < 0.05) in patients with menopausal insomnia. The two groups had no significant differences in regulating serum E2 (MD: 7.70; 95% CI: 2.20–13.19; p = 0.06) and LH levels (MD: −5.42; 95% CI: −9.46– −1.37; p = 0.009).ConclusionAcupuncture treatment is significantly effective for patients with perimenopausal insomnia. However, large-sample, multi-center, long-term follow-up trials should be conducted to obtain more reliable results. Considering the particularities of acupuncture treatment, actively constructing a real-world acupuncture clinical research paradigm will bring more authentic, rich, and practical research outcomes to clinical practitioners.Systematic review registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/view/CRD42024621267, identifier CRD42024621267.