Clinical evidence for acupressure with the improvement of sleep disorders in hemodialysis patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

To explore the efficacy of acupressure on the improvement of sleep disorders in patients undergoing hemodialysis. METHODS: A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed. Pubmed, Embase, the Cochrane database, and Chinese database were searched and sleep quality variables were extracted from eligible articles. The quality of original articles was assessed by the Modified Jadad Scale. Standard mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidential interval (CI) were pooled. RESULTS: Nine studies were included in the systematic review, and seven randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were eligible for meta-analysis. The pooled results showed significant improvement of quality of sleep using the acupressure massage (SMD = −0.81, 95%CI: −1.26, −0.36, P < 0.0001, I 2 = 78.6%). No severe adverse event was reported during the acupressure intervention. CONCLUSIONS: The results provide further evidence favoring the efficacy and safety of acupressure on the improvement of quality of sleep in hemodialysis patients. • This systematic review reported that pooled evidence favoring the efficacy and safety of acupressure, an easy, feasible and highly efficient application in the clinical practice, on the improvement of quality of sleep in hemodialysis patients. • This systematic review and meta-analysis, for the first time, comprehensively reviewed the clinical trials to explore the efficacy and safety of acupressure massage on the hemodialysis patients with sleep disorders. • The acupressure was recommended as an easy, feasible and highly efficient application in the clinical practice for the hemodialysis patients suffering from the sleep disorders.