Acupuncture-related treatments may improve sleep quality, anxiety, and night waking in children with neurodevelopmental disorders when added to usual care.
The review searched sixteen databases for randomized controlled trials assessing acupuncture-related treatments for sleep disturbances in children with neurodevelopmental disorders. Eligible studies compared acupuncture-based approaches, usually alongside conventional treatment, with conventional treatment alone, and assessed sleep questionnaires, sleep-monitoring measures, treatment response, safety, study bias, and evidence quality.
Across the included studies, adding acupuncture-related treatment to conventional care improved overall sleep difficulties, particularly sleep-related anxiety and nighttime awakenings. Sleep-monitoring outcomes also suggested longer nighttime sleep and fewer awakenings, while adverse events were uncommon; the overall certainty of evidence for key outcomes was moderate.
