Clinical study of thunder-fire moxibustion in the treatment of insomnia in perimenopausal women

OBJECTIVE: To observe the efficacy and safety of Zhao's thunder-fire moxibustion in the treatment of insomnia in perimenopausal women, in order to find a simple, effective and safe treatment with the characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine, and to provide a theoretical basis for the prevention and treatment of insomnia in perimenopausal women with traditional Chinese medicine. METHODS: Following a prospective, randomized, controlled clinical research design, a total of 60 patients meeting the inclusion criteria were recruited and randomly divided in a 1:1 ratio into a trial group and a control group, with 30 cases each. The trial group received thunder-fire moxibustion at Yintang, Yuyao (bilateral), Chengqi (bilateral), Jingming (bilateral), Tongziliao (bilateral), the helix (bilateral) and the ear opening (bilateral), with manual technique, once a day, 30 minutes each time. The control group received oral estazolam 2 mg (2 tablets) once nightly, half an hour before bedtime. The treatment course was 2 weeks in both groups; observations were made at the first visit and within one week after treatment, and markedly effective cases were followed up for one month. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used for evaluation before and after treatment, adverse reactions and side effects during the study were observed and recorded, and the collected data were analyzed with the SPSS 18.0 statistical package. RESULTS: In the comparison of clinical efficacy, the total effective rate of the trial group was 96.6%, and its cure rate, markedly effective rate and total effective rate were all higher than those of the control group; the difference in total effective rate between the 2 groups was significant (P<0.05). Comparing the PSQI component scores and total score before and after treatment, sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, sleep efficiency, sleep disturbance and total score in the trial group were all clearly improved after treatment compared with before treatment, with highly significant differences (P<0.01); daytime dysfunction differed significantly from before treatment (P<0.05). In the control group, sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, sleep efficiency, sleep disturbance, daytime sleep disturbance and total score after treatment differed highly significantly from before treatment (P<0.01). After treatment, the total score differed highly significantly between the 2 groups (P<0.01), and sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, sleep efficiency, sleep disturbance and daytime dysfunction differed significantly between groups (P<0.05), suggesting that the efficacy of the thunder-fire moxibustion group was superior to that of the control group. CONCLUSION: The trial group was superior to the control group in clinical efficacy and in the improvement of sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, sleep efficiency, sleep disturbance and daytime dysfunction; the efficacy is definite, toxic and side effects are minor, and it is worthy of clinical promotion.