Objective

2

To observe the therapeutic effect of scalp acupuncture combined with shallow acupuncture on specific disordered sleep structure in patients with Parkinson's disease and sleep disorders.

Methods

2

A total of 105 Parkinson's disease patients with sleep disorders were randomly divided into scalp acupuncture group， shallow acupuncture group， and combined group with 35 cases in each group. Routine western medicine was used as the basic treatment in all groups. The scalp acupuncture group was additionally treated with scalp acupuncture at Baihui （DU20）， Sishengcong （EX-HN1） and bilateral dance tremor areas （the scalp motor area moves 15mm parallel to the forehead）， and electro-stimulation was performed. The shallow acupuncture group was treated with shallow acupuncture at Shangen （the junction between the medial canthus and the bridge of nose）. The combined group was treated with shallow acupuncture plus scalp acupuncture with the similar methods in other two groups. All groups were treated once every other day， 3 times a week， for a total of 8 weeks. The sleep efficiency （SE）， awake time after falling asleep， sleep efficiency in rapid eye movement （REM） period， and periodic limb movement index （PLMI） in all groups under polysomnography （PSG） before and after 8-week treatment were compared. Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index （PSQI） and The third part of Unifie Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale（UPDRS-Ⅲ）were evaluated before treatment and after 4- and 8-week treatment. The clinical effect and safety were evaluated after 8-week treatment.

Results

2

After 8-week treatment， the SE and REM sleep efficiency significantly inproved in all groups， the awake time after falling asleep and PLMI decreased （

P

＜0.01）. When compared between groups after treatment， the SE and REM sleep efficiency in the combined group were higher than those in the other two groups， while the awake time after falling asleep and PLMI index were lower （

P

＜0.01）.The scores of PSQI and UPDRS-Ⅲ in all groups after 4- and 8-week treatment were lower than those before treatment， and more changes were found after 8-week treatment than 4-week treatment （

P

＜0.01）.After 8-week treatment， the scores of PSQI and UPDRS-Ⅲin the combined group were lower than those in either scalp acupuncture group or shallow acupuncture group， as well as the PSQI score in the shallow acupuncture group than that in the scalp acupuncture group， and the UPDRS-III score in the scalp acupuncture group than that in the shallow acupuncture group （

P

＜0.05 or

P

＜0.01）. The total effective rate of the combined group was 97.14%， which was higher than the scalp acupuncture group （75.76%） and the shallow acupuncture group（72.73%） （

P

＜0.05）. There was no serious adverse events in all groups.

Conclusion

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Scalp acupuncture combined with shallow acupuncture could significantly improve the sleep structure and the motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease with sleep disorder by improving the sleep efficiency and reducing the awake time after falling asleep， whose effect is superior to scalp acupuncture or shallow acupuncture alone and is safe.