Comparative effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia: a systematic review

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Abstract

Background

Insomnia is common in primary care, can persist after co-morbid conditions are treated, and may require long-term medication treatment. A potential alternative to medications is cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I).

Methods

In accordance with PRISMA guidelines, we systematically reviewed MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Central Register, and PsycINFO for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing CBT-I to any prescription or non-prescription medication in patients with primary or comorbid insomnia. Trials had to report quantitative sleep outcomes (e.g. sleep latency) in order to be included in the analysis. Extracted results included quantitative sleep outcomes, as well as psychological outcomes and adverse effects when available. Evidence base quality was assessed using GRADE.

Results

Five studies met criteria for analysis. Low to moderate grade evidence suggests CBT-I has superior effectiveness to benzodiazepine and non-benzodiazepine drugs in the long term, while very low grade evidence suggests benzodiazepines are more effective in the short term. Very low grade evidence supports use of CBT-I to improve psychological outcomes.

Conclusions

CBT-I is effective for treating insomnia when compared with medications, and its effects may be more durable than medications. Primary care providers should consider CBT-I as a first-line treatment option for insomnia.

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Most cited references 43

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Epidemiologic study of sleep disturbances and psychiatric disorders. An opportunity for prevention?

D Ford, D B Kamerow (1989)

As part of the National Institute of Mental Health Epidemiologic Catchment Area study, 7954 respondents were questioned at baseline and 1 year later about sleep complaints and psychiatric symptoms using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule. Of this community sample, 10.2% and 3.2% noted insomnia and hypersomnia, respectively, at the first interview. Forty percent of those with insomnia and 46.5% of those with hypersomnia had a psychiatric disorder compared with 16.4% of those with no sleep complaints. The risk of developing new major depression was much higher in those who had insomnia at both interviews compared with those without insomnia (odds ratio, 39.8; 95% confidence interval, 19.8 to 80.0). The risk of developing new major depression was much less for those who had insomnia that had resolved by the second visit (odds ratio, 1.6; 95% confidence interval, 0.5 to 5.3). Further research is needed to determine if early recognition and treatment of sleep disturbances can prevent future psychiatric disorders.

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Psychological and behavioral treatment of insomnia:update of the recent evidence (1998-2004).

Charles Morin, Richard Bootzin, Daniel J. Buysse … (2006)

Recognition that psychological and behavioral factors play an important role in insomnia has led to increased interest in therapies targeting these factors. A review paper published in 1999 summarized the evidence regarding the efficacy of psychological and behavioral treatments for persistent insomnia. The present review provides an update of the evidence published since the original paper. As with the original paper, this review was conducted by a task force commissioned by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine in order to update its practice parameters on psychological and behavioral therapies for insomnia. A systematic review was conducted on 37 treatment studies (N = 2246 subjects/patients) published between 1998 and 2004 inclusively and identified through Psyclnfo and Medline searches. Each study was systematically reviewed with a standard coding sheet and the following information was extracted: Study design, sample (number of participants, age, gender), diagnosis, type of treatments and controls, primary and secondary outcome measures, and main findings. Criteria for inclusion of a study were as follows: (a) the main sleep diagnosis was insomnia (primary or comorbid), (b) at least 1 treatment condition was psychological or behavioral in content, (c) the study design was a randomized controlled trial, a nonrandomized group design, a clinical case series or a single subject experimental design with a minimum of 10 subjects, and (d) the study included at least 1 of the following as dependent variables: sleep onset latency, number and/or duration of awakenings, total sleep time, sleep efficiency, or sleep quality. Psychological and behavioral therapies produced reliable changes in several sleep parameters of individuals with either primary insomnia or insomnia associated with medical and psychiatric disorders. Nine studies documented the benefits of insomnia treatment in older adults or for facilitating discontinuation of medication among chronic hypnotic users. Sleep improvements achieved with treatment were well sustained over time; however, with the exception of reduced psychological symptoms/ distress, there was limited evidence that improved sleep led to clinically meaningful changes in other indices of morbidity (e.g., daytime fatigue). Five treatments met criteria for empirically-supported psychological treatments for insomnia: Stimulus control therapy, relaxation, paradoxical intention, sleep restriction, and cognitive-behavior therapy. These updated findings provide additional evidence in support of the original review's conclusions as to the efficacy and generalizability of psychological and behavioral therapies for persistent insomnia. Nonetheless, further research is needed to develop therapies that would optimize outcomes and reduce morbidity, as would studies of treatment mechanisms, mediators, and moderators of outcomes. Effectiveness studies are also needed to validate those therapies when implemented in clinical settings (primary care), by non-sleep specialists. There is also a need to disseminate more effectively the available evidence in support of psychological and behavioral interventions to health-care practitioners working on the front line.

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Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia enhances depression outcome in patients with comorbid major depressive disorder and insomnia.

Rachel Manber, Jack Edinger, Jenna L Gress … (2008)

Insomnia impacts the course of major depressive disorder (MDD), hinders response to treatment, and increases risk for depressive relapse. This study is an initial evaluation of adding cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBTI) to the antidepressant medication escitalopram (EsCIT) in individuals with both disorders. A randomized, controlled, pilot study in a single academic medical center. 30 individuals (61% female, mean age 35 +/- 18) with MDD and insomnia. EsCIT and 7 individual therapy sessions of CBTI or CTRL (quasi-desensitization). Depression was assessed with the HRSD17 and the depression portion of the SCID, administered by raters masked to treatment assignment, at baseline and after 2, 4, 6, 8, and 12 weeks of treatment. The primary outcome was remission of MDD at study exit, which required both an HRSD17 score < or =7 and absence of the 2 core symptoms of MDD. Sleep was assessed with the insomnia severity index (ISI), daily sleep diaries, and actigraphy. EsCIT + CBTI resulted in a higher rate of remission of depression (61.5%) than EsCIT + CTRL (33.3%). EsCIT + CBTI was also associated with a greater remission from insomnia (50.0%) than EsCIT + CTRL (7.7%) and larger improvement in all diary and actigraphy measures of sleep, except for total sleep time. This pilot study provides evidence that augmenting an antidepressant medication with a brief, symptom focused, cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia is promising for individuals with MDD and comorbid insomnia in terms of alleviating both depression and insomnia.

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): BMC Fam Pract

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): BMC Fam Pract

Title: BMC Family Practice

Publisher: BioMed Central

ISSN (Electronic): 1471-2296

Publication date Collection: 2012

Publication date (Electronic): 25 May 2012

Volume: 13

Page: 40

Affiliations

[1 ]Center for Evidence-based Practice, University of Pennsylvania Health System, 3535 Market St. Mezzanine Suite 50, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA

[2 ]Behavioral Sleep Medicine Program, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, 3535 Market St., Suite 670, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA

[3 ]Center for Sleep and Circadian Neurobiology, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, 3624 Market St., Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA

[4 ]Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Blockley Hall, 423 Guardian Dr., Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA

[5 ]Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, 3400 Spruce St., Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA

[6 ]Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania, 3641 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA

Article

Publisher ID: 1471-2296-13-40

DOI: 10.1186/1471-2296-13-40

PMC ID: 3481424

PubMed ID: 22631616

SO-VID: b1312f6c-6a73-4df0-a9cc-ab9a01afc5b0

License:

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Comparative effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia: a systematic review

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Most cited references 43

Epidemiologic study of sleep disturbances and psychiatric disorders. An opportunity for prevention?

Psychological and behavioral treatment of insomnia:update of the recent evidence (1998-2004).

Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia enhances depression outcome in patients with comorbid major depressive disorder and insomnia.

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