Chaihushugan Decoction and Wen Dan Tang for Insomnia
For patients and families
In plain language
An automatic summary of structured registry data. It is an orientation aid, not a substitute for the official protocol or a physician assessment.
- What is being studied
- The protocol lists: Chaihushugan Decoction, Wen Dan Tang.
- Who it may be relevant to
- Registry conditions: Insomnia, Sleep Wake Disorders. Basic parameters: from 20 years · All.
- What needs checking
- Age, condition and sex are only basic indicators. Prior treatment, laboratory values and other mandatory requirements appear in the eligibility criteria below.
- Where it takes place
- Taiwan
- Next step
- Save the trial, show it to the treating physician, and confirm current recruitment with the study center. Costs, documents and travel →
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Official title
Effectiveness Evaluation of Chaihushugan Decoction and Wen Dan Tang Used in Treating Insomnia: A Pilot Randomized, Head-to-Head Trial
Overview
This study aims to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in treating sleep disorders, specifically chronic insomnia. While conventional TCM treatments often rely heavily on subjective patient feedback, this clinical trial incorporates objective diagnostic tools, including Digital Polysomnography (PSG) and actigraphy, to gather data-driven sleep quality metrics. Participants will be randomly assigned to receive either Chaihushugan Decoction or Wen Dan Tang for an 8-week treatment period. Subjective improvements will be tracked using standardized clinical questionnaires such as the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). The findings from this trial will help clarify the scientific basis and treatment pathways of these two classic herbal formulations for sleep management.
Detailed description
This pilot randomized, parallel, head-to-head clinical trial is designed to investigate and compare the therapeutic effects of two classic Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) herbal formulas, Chaihushugan Decoction and Wen Dan Tang, for patients suffering from chronic insomnia.
Eligible patients recruited from the outpatient clinic of Tainan Hospital will be randomly allocated to one of the two intervention arms in a 1:1 ratio. Group A will receive Chaihushugan Decoction (2g, three times a day, oral administration), and Group B will receive Wen Dan Tang (2g, three times a day, oral administration). The total intervention period for both groups is 8 weeks.
To overcome the limitations of relying solely on subjective patient self-reports, this study implements a rigorous combination of objective and subjective assessment protocols. Objective sleep parameters-including sleep efficiency, total sleep time, sleep architecture, arousal index, and apnea-hypopnea index (AHI)-will be measured using overnight Digital Polysomnography (PSG) and actigraphy tracking. These evaluations will be conducted at three time points: baseline, week 4 (mid-treatment), and week 8 (post-treatment).
Simultaneously, standardized subjective clinical questionnaires will be administered to monitor psychological and sleep quality changes, including the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). The primary objective is to evaluate data-driven clinical responses and physiological alterations associated with these two distinct TCM patterns in sleep management.
Interventions
- Drug Chaihushugan Decoction
Traditional Chinese Medicine herbal formula granule. Dosage: 2 grams, three times a day, oral administration for 8 weeks. - Drug Wen Dan Tang
Traditional Chinese Medicine herbal formula granule. Dosage: 2 grams, three times a day, oral administration for 8 weeks.
Primary outcome measures
- Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) Score [Time frame: Baseline, Week 4, and Week 8]
Eligibility criteria
Inclusion criteria
- Patients aged 20 or older seeking treatment at the Traditional Chinese Medicine outpatient clinic with sleep disorders.
- Meet the diagnostic criteria for chronic insomnia according to the International Classification of Sleep Disorders, Third Edition (ICSD-3).
- Willing to receive traditional Chinese medicine treatment.
- Able to provide signed informed consent approved by the National Cheng Kung University Hospital Institutional Review Board.
Exclusion criteria
- Diagnosed with schizophrenia or narcolepsy.
- History of neurological diseases (e.g., stroke history, neurodegenerative diseases).
- History of alcohol or drug addiction.
- Experiencing major, uncontrollable life-altering stressors (e.g., recent bereavement).
Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.
Healthy volunteers: No
Study design
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Model
- Parallel assignment
- Masking
- Open label
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
Study locations
Taiwan · 1 center
- Tainan Hospital, Ministry of Health and Welfare — Tainan
Identifiers
NCT: NCT07735390 · B-BR-112-014