Efficacy of ear acupuncture on sleep quality in breast cancer survivors: A randomized controlled trial.

12066 Background: Among females, breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer worldwide. Sleep problems impair 40 to 70 % of breast cancer survivors. The aim of this randomized controlled trial was to evaluate the effect of ear acupuncture on sleep quality in breast cancer survivors. Methods: Fifty-two female breast cancer survivors (mean age 55.73 ± 8.10) were randomized to either 10 treatments of ear acupuncture within five weeks (N = 26) or to a single session of psycho-education and given an advice booklet concerning insomnia (N = 26). Both interventions were delivered in a group setting. Primary outcome was sleep quality (measured by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index) at week 5 corrected for treatment expectancies. Secondary outcomes were inflammation parameters (interleukin-6) at week 5, sleep quality at week 17, and stress, anxiety, depressive symptoms, quality of life and fatigue 5 weeks and 17 weeks after randomization. Results: Intention-to-treat analysis showed a significantly stronger increase of sleep quality in the ear acupuncture group compared to the psycho-education group ( p= .031; d = 0.64) at week 5. Furthermore, ear acupuncture improved stress ( p= .030; d = 0.64), anxiety ( p = .001; d = 0.97), and fatigue ( p = .012; d = 0.75) at week 5 compared to psycho-education. No significant group difference was found on any outcome at week 17. No serious adverse events occurred during the study period. Conclusions: Group ear acupuncture may be a helpful intervention in tackling sleep problems in breast cancer survivors in the short term and may reduce stress, anxiety and fatigue as well. Long-term effects remain questionable. Clinical trial information: NCT03874598 .