Objective: To investigate the clinical efficacy and action mechanism of abdominal acupuncture plus plum-blossom needle tapping for primary insomnia. Methods: A total of 66 eligible cases were randomly allocated into an observation group (n=33) and a control group (n=33). Cases in the observation group received abdominal acupuncture plus plum-blossom needle tapping, whereas cases in the control group received abdominal acupuncture alone. After 2, 6 weeks of treatment and 4 weeks after end of treatment, the patients in both groups were evaluated using the Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) and measure your medical outcome profile (MYMOP) based on the patients’ self-report. Results: After 2 weeks of treatment, the total effective rate was 90.9% in the observation group, versus 63.6% in the control group, showing a statistical difference (P<0.05). After 6 weeks of treatment, there were no between-group statistical differences in total effective rate (P>0.05). After 6 weeks, the sleep quality and efficiency scores in the observation group were better than those in the control group. Four weeks after end of treatment, the scores of sleep quality and MYMOP in the observation group were better than those in the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion: Abdominal acupuncture plus plum-blossom needle tapping can obtain fast, accurate effect for primary insomnia and improve patients’ sleep quality and efficiency. © 2016, Shanghai Research Institute of Acupuncture and Meridian and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.
