Research Hotspots and Trends of Traditional Chinese Medicine in the Treatment of Chronic Insomnia Based on Advances in Modern Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine

OBJECTIVE To analyze the research hotspots and cutting-edge trends of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) in the treatment of chronic insomnia over the past 30 years.

METHODS Relevant literature on TCM treatment of chronic insomnia was retrieved from the China National Knowledge Infrastructure(CNKI) and PubMed databases, covering the period from January 1, 1995 to June 20, 2025. CiteSpace 6.4.R1 software was used for visual analysis of authors, institutions, keywords, and other elements.

RESULTS A total of 1089 Chinese articles and 302 English articles were included. The annual number of publications in this field showed an overall upward trend. Core authors in both Chinese and English literatures were represented by Zhao Yanan, Wang Xiaoqiu, Wu Wenzhong, Liu Chengyong, Chung Ka-fai, and Yeung Wing-fai, but no prominent core author groups had been formed. Institutions and institutional units with relatively high publication volumes included Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, and School of Chinese Medicine. Inter-institutional cooperation was mainly regional, with weak interdisciplinary collaboration. Research hotspots in the Chinese-language literature focused on “the construction of a sleep quality evaluation system”, “exploring medication and syndrome regularity using data mining technology”, and “intervention & mechanism research on insomnia-depression comorbidity” while the English-language literature focused on evidence-based medical evidence and exploration of central mechanisms.

CONCLUSION The field of TCM for chronic insomnia is in a critical stage of transformation. Standardization of syndrome differentiation and treatment, exploration of TCM syndrome and medication regularity based on data mining technology, and integrated TCM-western medicine treatment are research hotspots. In the future, it is necessary to explore multidisciplinary collaboration, strengthen high-quality research on the integration of TCM and western medicine, and promote multi-level and in-depth development.