Comparison of Magnetic Auriculotherapy, Laser Auriculotherapy and Their Combination for Treatment of Insomnia in the Elderly: A Double-Blinded Randomised Trial
Table 1
Sociodemographic and baseline characteristics of the participants sample (N=147).
All (N=147)
Group 1 Placebo LAT & MAT (n=50)
Group 2 LAT & placebo MAT (n=46)
Group 3 Combined AT (n=51)
P-value
Age (years)
❖0.025
Mean (SD)
75.29 (6.99)
76.02 (7.02)
76.80 (6.16)
73.20 (7.29)
Gender
Male
19
7
5
7
★ 0.907
Female
128
43
41
44
Education level
Primary or below
100
32
35
33
◈0.734
Secondary
39
15
9
15
Tertiary or above
8
3
2
3
Marital status
Single
5
2
1
2
◈0.971
Married
82
29
26
27
Divorced/Widowed
60
19
19
22
Religion
No
75
26
22
27
★ 0.895
Yes
72
24
24
24
Body mass index (kg/m2)
22.29 (3.73)
22.85 (3.48)
21.50 (3.57)
22.46 (4.04)
❖ 0.076
Shared bed
No
109
33
38
38
★ 0.188
Yes
38
17
8
13
Living alone
No
66
20
27
19
★ 0.079
Yes
81
30
19
32
Sleeping pills taken
No
103
34
33
36
◈0.391
Previous user
32
14
7
11
Current user
12
2
6
4
Duration of insomnia (years) Mean (SD)
10.12 (10.67)
9.23 (8.34)
11.15 (13.09)
10.06 (10.40)
❖ 0.678
Comorbid illness
No
22
5
5
12
★ 0.488
Yes
125
45
41
39
Regular drugs taken
No
32
10
7
15
★ 0.441
Yes
115
40
39
36
PSQI (total) (0-21)
12.63 (3.24)
12.67 (3.15)
12.89 (4.13)
12.35 (2.34)
❖ 0.715
Sleep latency (min)
27.03 (23.13)
26.56 (23.76)
28.68 (24.86)
26.00 (21.19)
❖ 0.839
Total sleep time (hours)
3.76 (1.96)
3.93 (1.93)
3.74 (1.86)
3.62 (2.10)
❖ 0.734
Wake after sleep onset (minutes)
90.31 (88.53)
92.06 (91.44)
90.03 (99.56)
88.86 (75.95)
❖ 0.984
Sleep efficiency (%)
72.33 (16.09)
72.44 (15.91)
74.25 (16.04)
70.50 (16.42)
❖ 0.521
SF-12 (PCS)
41.39 (8.51)
40.65 (7.58)
41.43 (9.69)
42.07 (8.36)
❖ 0.707
SF-12 (MCS)
46.68 (12.34)
48.22 (11.76)
46.19 (13.49)
45.62 (11.89)
❖ 0.542
PHQ-9
9.47 (6.07)
9.54 (5.34)
9.52 (6.69)
9.35 (6.26)
❖ 0.986
SD, standard deviation. PSQI: Pittsburgh sleep quality index. SF-12 (PCS): physical component score. SF-12 (MCS): mental component score. PHQ-9: Patient Health Questionnaire, for depression. ❖One-way analysis of variance. ◈Fisher’s exact test. ★Chi-square test. Statistically significant at P < 0.05.
