Qihuang needle therapy for autism spectrum disorder with sleep disorder: a multi-center randomized controlled trial

To observe the clinical efficacy of Qihuang needle therapy for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) children with sleep disorder.

A total of 60 ASD children with sleep disorder were randomly divided into an observation group and a control group, 30 cases in each group. Both groups were treated with structured education intervention, 60 min each time, once a day, 6 times a week. Qihuang needle therapy was applied at Yintang (GV24⁺), Baihui (GV20) and bilateral Jueyinshu (BL14), Xinshu (BL15) in the observation group, multi-direction needling was delivered and without needle retaining. The treatment was given 2 times a week, each treatment was delivered at interval of 2 days at least. Behavioral intervention was adopted in the control group. Treatment for consecutive 12 weeks was required in both groups. Before and after treatment, the scores of children's sleep habits questionnaire (CSHQ), the autism behavior checklist (ABC), the childhood autism rating scale (CARS), and the childhood autism behavior scale (CABS) were observed in the two groups.

After treatment, the scores of CSHQ, ABC, CARS and CABS were decreased compared with those before treatment (P＜0.01), and the above scores in the observation group were lower than those in the control group (P＜0.05).

Qihuang needle therapy can effectively treat ASD with sleep disorder, improve the core symptoms of ASD and the sleep quality.