Efficacy of Herbal Medicine on Sleep Disorders in Parkinson’s Disease: A Review of Randomized Controlled Trials

Abstract

Objectives: This study reviewed randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating the efficacy of herbal medicine on sleep disorders associated with Parkinson’s disease and suggests a better research process.Methods: We searched for RCTs for herbal medicine treatments for sleep disorders related to Parkinson’s disease on July 31, 2023 using eight databases (PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure [CNKI], the Research Information Service System [RISS], Science ON, the Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System [OASIS], and the Korea Citation Index [KCI]). Cochrane’s risk of bias tool was used to assess the quality of the RCTs.Results: A total of 16 RCTs met all the inclusion criteria, and in most reports, the treatment group showed a significant improvement in sleep disorders compared to the control group. Total effective rate (TER), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), TCM Symptom Score (TSS), Parkinson’s Disease Sleep Scale (PDSS), etc., were used as evaluation indicators.Conclusion: Herbal medicine is a potential treatment for sleep disorders associated with Parkinson’s disease. However, the selected RCTs were of poor quality, and it is necessary to perform more systematic studies.