Can pressing your own pressure points ease menopausal insomnia?
NCT ID NCT06463197
First seen Sep 24, 2026 · Last updated Sep 25, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
Many perimenopausal women struggle with insomnia, and acupressure is sometimes used to help. This pilot trial teaches 40 perimenopausal women with diagnosed insomnia to perform acupressure on themselves at home. Researchers compare their sleep severity and daily sleep patterns against a control group to see whether self-acupressure is a practical option.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- self-administered acupressure, a behavioral technique where women press specific points on their own bodies
- What this could lead to
- If it works, self-acupressure could give perimenopausal women a low-cost, drug-free way to manage insomnia at home.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small pilot study of 40 women, so any sleep improvements may not hold up in larger trials. Participants must learn the technique correctly and stick with it, which can be hard without ongoing guidance.
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Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
-
Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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40 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
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Jul 2024
- Finished
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Jan 2025
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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35 to 64 years
- Sex
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Female participants only
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
The inclusion criteria were as follows: (i) Chinese Hong Kong residents who were able to read Chinese; (ii) age 35 to 64 years; (iii) peri-menopausal women, defined as menstrual cycle irregularity (a change of 7 days or more in the menstrual cycle) or amenorrhea for no longer than 60 consecutive days, according to the recommendations from the Stages of Reproductive Aging Workshop; and (iv) with a current clinical DSM-5 diagnosis of insomnia disorder according to the Brief Insomnia Questionnaire. The criteria included having difficulties falling asleep, staying asleep, or early morning awakening with clinically significant consequences for daily life for at least 3 months. (v) An Insomnia Severity Index total score of at least 10 indicated that insomnia was present at the clinical level and (vi) Able to understand Chinese and Cantonese or Mandarin; (vii) willing to give informed consent and comply with the trial protocol. For (iv) and (v), both the Brief Insomnia Questionnaire and Insomnia Severity Index were included as inclusion criteria. This is because the two scales have different purposes. Specifically, Brief Insomnia Questionnaire is used to confirm the participants fulfil the diagnostic criteria of DSM-5 insomnia disorder, while the Insomnia Severity Index is used to assess the severity of the insomnia symptoms and related daytime impairments. The exclusion criteria are: (i) pregnancy; (ii) at significant suicide risk according to the rating by the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale item on suicide (score ≥3); (iii) no comorbid sleep disorders primarily requiring other treatments, such as sleep apnea or narcolepsy; (iv) change in the dose of their psychotropic drugs within 12 weeks prior to baseline, which would possibly indicate instability in their psychiatric condition; and (v) taking any antibiotics in 3 months before the baseline or any food containing probiotics, such as yogurt, in 7 days before the baseline.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
Contacts and locations
Locations
-
School of Nursing, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Hong Kong, Hong Kong
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