Analysis of Three Insomnia Related Lab Reports

Franco Buestan 

Department of English, The City College of New York

English 21007: Writing for Engineering 

Professor Crystal Rodwell

March 15, 2022

There are three lab reports that conduct an experiment on the effectiveness of electroacupuncture/acupuncture methods on patients with an insomnia disorder or a depression related insomnia disorder. The lab report “Efficacy of Electroacupuncture on Treating Depression Related Insomnia: A Randomized Controlled Trial.” by  Xuan Yin, Wei Li, Huangan Wu, Bo Dong, Jie Ma and Shanshan Li, will be referred to as lab report one. The other report “Efficacy and Safety of Electroacupuncture for Insomnia Disorder: A Multicenter, Randomized, Assessor-Blinded, Controlled Trial.”by Boram Lee, Bo-Kyung Kim, Hyeong-Jun Kim, In Chul Jung, Ae-Ran Kim and Hyo-Ju Park, will be referred to as lab report two. The third lab report “Impact of Acupuncture on Sleep and Comorbid Symptoms for Chronic Insomnia: A Randomized Clinical Trial.” by Cong Wang, Wen-lin Xu, Guan-wu Li, Cong Fu, Jin-jin Li and Jing Wang, will be referred to as lab report three. To write a lab report there needs to be specific sections such as title, abstract, aim, introduction, methods, results, discussions, conclusions, references, and appendices. When analyzing lab reports one,two, and three, there were positives and negatives that impacted the quality of format and quality of the lab reports. 

In lab report one, Xuan Yin, Wei Li, Huangan Wu, Bo Dong, Jie Ma and Shanshan Li performed a blind, randomized, and controlled trial to evaluate the efficiency of electroacupuncture on treating insomnia in patients with depression. The final result of this experiment was that electroacupuncture treatment can improve the sleep quality of patients with depression. In lab report two,  Boram Lee, Bo-Kyung Kim, Hyeong-Jun Kim, In Chul Jung, Ae-Ran Kim and Hyo-Ju Parka conduct an electroacupuncture multicenter, randomized, blinded, controlled trial on 150 patients with diagnosed insomnia. In the end it was concluded that electroacupuncture can be used as an intervention to safely and effectively treat patients with insomnia disorders. Similarly to lab report 1 and 2, in lab report three, Cong Wang, Wen-lin Xu, Guan-wu Li, Cong Fu, Jin-jin Li and Jing Wang perform  a clinical trial to find out if acupuncture has a significant impact on sleep and comorbid symptoms for chronic insomnia. The final result was that acupuncture at HT7(acupuncture point) and KT7(acupuncture point) is a safe, effective, and tolerable intervention for patients with insomnia.

Lab report one clearly described the purpose and details of the experiment  in the abstract section. For instance, “In a patient-assessor-blind, randomized and sham controlled trial, 90 depression patients with insomnia were assigned into three different groups”(Yin, 2020). They stated what they did in a clear and concise way in which the whole report does not have to be read to understand. The introduction section succinctly summed up the topic and purpose of the lab report. The discussion section of the report summarizes the results and the limitations. For instance, “results suggested that EA could not only improveMDD patients’ sleep quality, but could also effectively enhance their mental status.”.(Yin, 2020). This is straight, simple, and thoroughly explained to provide a better understanding of the experiment. However, the results section did not include the charts that it mentioned. Instead the charts are found in the reference section of the report. This impacts the quality of the format since such information should be included when explaining the results of the experiment in the results section so the reader could get a better understanding.

 In lab report two, the conclusion is supposed to talk about suggestions to overcome experimental limitations. Instead the conclusion ends off with saying “further long term studies… are needed for a more definitive conclusion” (Lee, 2020). Briefly going over the solutions to the limitations would make a stronger conclusion since it would add emphasis to the fact that there is space for improvement. Also the conclusion section included a graph which the results section should have had. The discussion section included in it all that it was supposed to have. It discussed the key results, the unexpected results, and the limitations. Each of these were split into a paragraph and thoroughly explained, especially the unexpected results. One clear example of this is “previous studies have shown the potential of acupuncture and electroacupuncture for treating insomnia by regulating melatonin and cortisol levels…although our study showed no significant changes in the levels of these…”( Lee, 2020). This part of the discussion is vital and should be included in any report to show that there are flaws and room for improvement in the experiment performed. 

In lab report three the introduction is brief and very well developed. It explains relevant information used to formulate their hypothesis. The authors directly state why they are conducting their trials, “More studies are needed to investigate the subjective and objective indicators of acupuncture for improving sleep and explore the secondary benefits of treating insomnia.”(Wang, 2020). The report had an exceptional methods section because it included everything to allow the  experiment to be replicated. For example, in order to perform the acupuncture it mentioned the exact measurements of the needle sizes used which were “needles with a length of 40 mm and a diameter of 0.25 mm” (Wang 2020). The specifics of every tool was mentioned in the method section making it repeatable. In the results section of the report the tables that were made for the result should be included in it, not at the end of the report. In addition, the conclusion of the report did not mention what could be done to improve the limitations that were encountered during the experiment. For instance, “acupuncture at HT 7 and KI 7 can only provide a short-term effect, and a better combination of acupuncture points needs further exploration.”. (Wang 2020). This would make the conclusion complete because  adding limitations in the discussion section would be pointless if it is not reinstated as a final remark.

Throughout the lab reports there were pros and cons that impacted the overall format quality and quality of the report. All the lab reports had all parts required when writing a lab report. However, one thing lab reports one, two, and three did not have is charts in the results sections. Overall the lab reports were well written and formatted properly even though they had some flaws.

References

Yin, X., Li, W., Wu, H., Dong, B., Ma, J., & Li, S. (2020, July 31). Efficacy of Electroacupuncture on Treating Depression-Related Insomnia: A Randomized Controlled Trial. go-gale-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu. Retrieved March 15, 2022, from https://go-gale-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/ps/i.do?p=AONE&u=cuny_ccny&id=GALE%7CA632925643&v=2.1&it=r&sid=bookmark-AONE&asid=03ab5cb6 

Lee, B., Kim, B.-K., Kim, H.-J., Jung, I. C., Kim, A.-R., & Park, H.-J. (2020, December 31). Efficacy and Safety of Electroacupuncture for Insomnia Disorder: A Multicenter, Randomized, Assessor-Blinded, Controlled Trial. go-gale-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu. Retrieved March 15, 2022, from https://go-gale-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/ps/i.do?p=AONE&u=cuny_ccny&id=GALE%7CA649683943&v=2.1&it=r&sid=bookmark-AONE&asid=2fbd2644 

Wang, C., Xu, W.-L., Li, G.-wu, Fu, C., Li, J.-jin, & Wang, J. (2020, October 31). Impact of Acupuncture on Sleep and Comorbid Symptoms for Chronic Insomnia: A Randomized Clinical Trial. go-gale-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu. Retrieved March 15, 2022, from https://go-gale-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/ps/i.do?p=AONE&u=cuny_ccny&id=GALE%7CA683250472&v=2.1&it=r&sid=bookmark-AONE&asid=201ce290