Zhu MM, Qiu WH, Xu HC. Multidimensional challenges in promoting acupuncture for insomnia: Cultural, economic, and patient provider trust perspectives. World J Psychiatry 2025; 15(9): 110067 [DOI: 10.5498/wjp.v15.i9.110067]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Hua-Chong Xu, PhD, Associate Professor, Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan University, No. 601 West Huangpu Avenue, Guangzhou 510632, Guangdong Province, China. xuhuachong@jnu.edu.cn
Research Domain of This Article
Psychiatry
Article-Type of This Article
Editorial
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Psychiatry. Sep 19, 2025; 15(9): 110067 Published online Sep 19, 2025. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v15.i9.110067
Multidimensional challenges in promoting acupuncture for insomnia: Cultural, economic, and patient provider trust perspectives
Ming-Min Zhu, Wen-Hui Qiu, Hua-Chong Xu
Ming-Min Zhu, Wen-Hui Qiu, Hua-Chong Xu, School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, Guangdong Province, China
Wen-Hui Qiu, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Speed Capability Research, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, Guangdong Province, China
Hua-Chong Xu, Key Laboratory of CNS Regeneration, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, Guangdong Province, China
Co-first authors: Ming-Min Zhu and Wen-Hui Qiu.
Author contributions: Xu HC and Zhu MM conceived and designed the editorial; Zhu MM and Qiu WH wrote the paper; Zhu MM, Xu HC, and Qiu WH reviewed and edited the manuscript; All of the authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript to be published.
Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 82474207 and No. 82405087; Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation of China, No. 2024A1515011014, No. 2025A1515010371 and No. 2025A1515012912; Youth Science and Technology Talent Support Project of Jinan University Science and Technology Association, No. 21624222; the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, No. 21624360; and the Research Fund Program of Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Speed Capability Research, No. 2023B1212010009.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Hua-Chong Xu, PhD, Associate Professor, Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan University, No. 601 West Huangpu Avenue, Guangzhou 510632, Guangdong Province, China. xuhuachong@jnu.edu.cn
Received: May 28, 2025 Revised: June 19, 2025 Accepted: July 8, 2025 Published online: September 19, 2025 Processing time: 90 Days and 2.9 Hours
Abstract
A recent study of patient-centered perspectives by Zhao et al, published in the World Journal of Psychiatry, identified key facilitators and barriers that influence insomnia patients’ choice of acupuncture therapy, offering insights for clinical practice and policy-making to enhance the integration of acupuncture therapy into comprehensive insomnia management. While acupuncture demonstrates unique advantages as a complementary medical approach, its broader adoption is hindered by complex multidimensional factors. This paper proposes a “dynamic balance model” encompassing the cultural, economic, and patient-provider trust dimensions, and emphasizes the need for synergistic optimization through cultural narrative transformation, institutional innovation, and digital empowerment. These strategies aim to facilitate the promotion of acupuncture for insomnia treatment and its global expansion.
Core Tip: This study proposes a dynamic balance model to address the multidimensional challenges in promoting acupuncture as an insomnia treatment, emphasizing cultural narrative transformation, institutional innovation, and digital empowerment. It highlights the need to reshape cultural perceptions of acupuncture as a scientifically validated therapy, improve economic accessibility through insurance reforms and community clinics, and enhance patient-provider trust using artificial intelligence-assisted platforms and digital communication tools. The model advocates for synergistic optimization across the cultural, economic, and communication dimensions to transition acupuncture from a marginal to a mainstream therapy, offering diverse therapeutic options and hope for insomnia patients globally.
