Insomnia is a major public health problem considering its high prevalence, impact on daily life, co-morbidity with other disorders and societal costs. Cognitive behavioral treatment for insomnia (CBTI) is currently considered to be the preferred treatment. However, no meta-analysis exists of all studies using at least one component of CBTI for insomnia, which also uses modern techniques to pool data and to analyze subgroups of patients. We included 87 randomized controlled trials, comparing 118 treatments (3724 patients) to non-treated controls (2579 patients). Overall, the interventions had significant effects on: insomnia severity index (g = 0.98), sleep efficiency (g = 0.71), Pittsburgh sleep quality index (g = 0.65), wake after sleep onset (g = 0.63) and sleep onset latency (SOL; g = 0.57), number of awakenings (g = 0.29) and sleep quality (g = 0.40). The smallest effect was on total sleep time (g = 0.16). Face-to-face treatments of at least four sessions seem to be more effective than self-help interventions or face-to-face interventions with fewer sessions. Otherwise the results seem to be quite robust (similar for patients with or without comorbid disease, younger or older patients, using or not using sleep medication). We conclude that CBTI, either its components or the full package, is effective in the treatment of insomnia.

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Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is a treatment with moderate to large effects. These effects are believed to be sustained long-term, but no systematic meta-analyses of recent evidence exist. In this present meta-analysis, we investigate long-term effects in 30 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing CBT-I to non-active control groups. The primary analyses (n ¼ 29 after excluding one study which was an outlier) showed that CBT-I is effective at 3-, 6-and 12-mo compared to non-active controls: Hedges g for Insomnia severity index: 0.64 (3 m), 0.40 (6 m) and 0.25 (12 m); sleep onset latency: 0.38 (3 m), 0.29 (6 m) and 0.40 (12 m); sleep efficiency: 0.51 (3 m), 0.32 (6 m) and 0.35 (12 m). We demonstrate that although effects decline over time, CBT-I produces clinically significant effects that last up to a year after therapy.

NTR6049 (Netherlands Trial Register).

Purpose of Review Digital cognitive behavioral therapy (dCBT) has been available for over a decade. We reviewed the evidence that accumulated over the past 5 years and discuss the implications for introducing dCBT into standard healthcare. Recent Findings Studies have consistently supported the use of dCBT to treat insomnia. Evidence is now demonstrating large short-term effects and smaller long-term effects up to 1.5 years after treatment across populations with various co-occurring health problems. The effects also extend into a range of psychological well-being factors. Mediators and moderators have been studied to understand mechanisms and create new opportunities to enhance effectiveness and reduce dropout. Incorporating personalized guidance in dCBT may further enhance effectiveness. Summary The evidence for dCBT for insomnia is strong and suggests that dCBT is ready for application in standard healthcare. Further research, digital innovation, and development of effective implementation methods are required to ensure dCBT fulfills its potential.

BackgroundInsomnia is a highly prevalent disorder causing clinically significant distress and impairment. Furthermore, insomnia is associated with high societal and individual costs. Although cognitive behavioural treatment for insomnia (CBT-I) is the preferred treatment, it is not used often. Offering CBT-I in an online format may increase access. Many studies have shown that online CBT for insomnia is effective. However, these studies have all been performed in general population samples recruited through media. This protocol article presents the design of a study aimed at establishing feasibility, effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a guided online intervention (i-Sleep) for patients suffering from insomnia that seek help from their general practitioner as compared to care-as-usual.Methods/designIn a pragmatic randomized controlled trial, adult patients with insomnia disorder recruited through general practices are randomized to a 5-session guided online treatment, which is called “i-Sleep”, or to care-as-usual. Patients in the care-as-usual condition will be offered i-Sleep 6 months after inclusion. An ancillary clinician, known as the psychological well-being practitioner who works in the GP practice (PWP; in Dutch: POH-GGZ), will offer online support after every session. Our aim is to recruit one hundred and sixty patients. Questionnaires, a sleep diary and wrist actigraphy will be administered at baseline, post intervention (at 8 weeks), and at 6 months and 12 months follow-up. Effectiveness will be established using insomnia severity as the main outcome. Cost-effectiveness and cost-utility (using costs per quality adjusted life year (QALY) as outcome) will be conducted from a societal perspective. Secondary measures are: sleep diary, daytime consequences, fatigue, work and social adjustment, anxiety, alcohol use, depression and quality of life.DiscussionThe results of this trial will help establish whether online CBT-I is (cost-) effective and feasible in general practice as compared to care-as-usual. If it is, then quality of care might be increased because implementation of i-Sleep makes it easier to adhere to insomnia guidelines. Strengths and limitations are discussed.Trial registrationNetherlands Trial register NTR 5202 (registered April 17st 2015).

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> Guidelines recommend cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) as the first line of treatment for insomnia in general practice, but CBT-I is rarely available. Nurse-guided Internet-delivered CBT-I might be a solution to improve access to care. <b><i>Objective:</i></b> We aimed to determine the effectiveness of nurse-guided Internet-delivered CBT-I (I-CBT-I) on insomnia severity experienced by patients in general practice. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Nurse-guided I-CBT-I (“i-Sleep”) was compared to care-as-usual (and I-CBT-I after 6 months) in 15 participating general practices among 134 patients (≥18 years old) with clinical insomnia symptoms. Assessments took place at 8, 26 and 52 weeks. Primary outcome was self-reported insomnia severity (Insomnia Severity Index) at 8 weeks. Secondary outcomes were sleep diary indices, depression and anxiety symptoms (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), fatigue, daytime consequences of insomnia, sleep medication and adverse events. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Two thirds of the 69 intervention patients (<i>n</i> = 47; 68%) completed the whole intervention. At the posttest examination, there were large significant effects for insomnia severity (Cohen’s <i>d =</i>1.66), several sleep diary variables (wake after sleep onset, number of awakenings, terminal wakefulness, sleep efficiency, sleep quality) and depression. At 26 weeks there were still significant effects on insomnia severity (<i>d</i> = 1.02) and on total sleep time and sleep efficiency. No significant effects were observed for anxiety, fatigue, daily functioning or sleep medication. No adverse events were reported. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> Nurse-guided I-CBT-I effectively reduces insomnia severity among general practice patients. I-CBT-I enables general practitioners to offer effective insomnia care in accordance with the clinical guidelines.

Introduction: Both guided online and individual face-to-face cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) are effective in improving insomnia symptoms and sleep efficiency. Little is known about the underlying mechanisms generating this effect. The present study tests the assumption that pre-sleep arousal, sleep-related worry and dysfunctional beliefs about sleep are mediators in the effect of cognitive behavioral treatment for insomnia. Methods: A secondary analysis was performed on data previously collected from a randomized controlled trial (N ¼ 90). In this trial, participants were randomized to either a face-to-face CBT-I condition, an internet-delivered CBT-I condition, or a wait-list group. This article reports on the efficacy of these interventions on pre-sleep arousal, sleep-related worry, and dysfunctional beliefs. Furthermore, we investigated whether these measures mediated the treatment effect on insomnia severity and sleep efficiency. Results: Both treatment modalities were efficacious for these cognitive measures; however, face-to-face treatment showed superiority over the online treatment. All three cognitive measures mediated the effect on insomnia severity. Sleep-related worry and pre-sleep arousal mediated the effect on sleep efficiency, but dysfunctional beliefs did not. Conclusion: Overall, these results point toward the importance of cognitive processes in the treatment of insomnia, implying that psychological treatments for insomnia may best be guided by (also) targeting these cognitive processes.