Abstract
Background/Purpose Sleep plays an important role in individuals' health. The functions of the brain, the cardiovascular system, the immune system, and the metabolic system are closely associated with sleep. As a prevalent sleep disorder, insomnia has been closely concerned, and it is necessary to find effective therapies. In recent years, a growing body of studies has shown that mind-body therapies (MBTs) can improve sleep quality and ameliorate insomnia severity. However, a comprehensive and overall systematic review has not been conducted. In order to examine the effect of MBTs on insomnia, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis evaluating the effects of MBTs on sleep quality in healthy adults and clinical populations. Methods PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, and review of references were searched up to July 2018. English language studies of all designs evaluating the effect of MBTs on sleep outcomes in adults with or without diseases were examined. To calculate the SMDs and 95% CIs, we used a fixed effect model when heterogeneity was negligible and a random effect model when heterogeneity was significant. Results 49 studies covering 4506 participants published between 2004 and 2018 were identified. Interventions included meditation, tai chi, qigong, and yoga which lasted 4 to 24 weeks. The MBTs resulted in statistically significant improvement in sleep quality and reduction on insomnia severity but no significant effects on sleep quantity indices, which were measured by sleep diary or objective measures. We analyzed the effects of tai chi and qigong separately as two different MBTs for the first time and found that qigong had a slight advantage over tai chi in the improvement of sleep quality. Subgroup analyses revealed that the effect of MBTs on sleep quality in healthy individuals was larger than clinical populations. The effect of MBTs might be influenced by the intervention duration but not the frequency. Conclusions MBTs can be effective in treating insomnia and improving sleep quality for healthy individuals and clinical patients. More high-quality and well-controlled RCTs are needed to make a better conclusion in further study.
Highlights
IntroductionAs a prevalent sleep disorder, insomnia has become a public health problem, including subjective sleep complaints (e.g., poor sleep quality, inadequate sleep time), difficulties in sleep onset/maintenance, waking up too early, or nonrefreshing sleep
As a prevalent sleep disorder, insomnia has become a public health problem, including subjective sleep complaints, difficulties in sleep onset/maintenance, waking up too early, or nonrefreshing sleep
We found that I2 0.1 in some subgroup analyses, such as sleep onset latency (SOL) (I2=0.0%, p=0.513) and total sleep time (TST) (I2=0.0%, p=0.419), which were assessed by objective measurements, SOL (I2=7.0%, p=0.341), which was assessed by means of a sleep diary, and Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) (I2=0.0%, p=0.838)
Summary
As a prevalent sleep disorder, insomnia has become a public health problem, including subjective sleep complaints (e.g., poor sleep quality, inadequate sleep time), difficulties in sleep onset/maintenance, waking up too early, or nonrefreshing sleep. Insomnia is associated with significant distress or daytime impairment [1, 2]. It can occur independently or with other physical disorders and diseases (e.g., cancer, hypertension) and psychiatric disorders (e.g., anxiety, depression [2]) at a high rate of comorbidity. According to recent epidemiological studies, almost 25% of adults had sleep complaints, 10-15% had insomnia symptoms accompanied with daytime consequences, and 6-10% met the diagnostic criteria of insomnia disorder [7,8,9,10]. It is necessary to find effective therapies for insomnia
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
