The Effect of Acupuncture Intervention on Sleep Quality among Students: A quasi-experimental study

Poor sleep quality is common among adolescents and can impair cognitive function, physical health, mental health, and academic achievement. Acupuncture and acupressure are non-pharmacological therapies that can be used to improve sleep quality because they are safe, effective, and have minimal side effects. This study aims to analyse the effect of acupuncture intervention on sleep quality among students in Central Lampung, Lampung Province, Indonesia. This study used a quasi-experimental design with a pretest-posttest two-group design. A sample of 80 respondents was selected using simple random sampling and divided into acupuncture (n=40) and acupressure (n=40) therapy groups. The intervention was given in 10 sessions. Sleep quality was measured using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Data were analysed using Paired Sample t-test and Independent Sample t-test with a 95% confidence level (α=0.05). Acupuncture therapy reduced PSQI scores from 13.13±2.604 to 9.48±2.276 with a mean difference of 3.650 (p<0.001). Acupressure therapy reduced PSQI scores from 11.93±2.464 to 9.80±1.924 with a mean difference of 2.125 (p<0.001). After the intervention, there was no significant difference between the groups (p=0.492). Acupuncture and acupressure were both effective in improving sleep quality, but acupuncture showed a greater change in scores.