• J D Edinger, W K Wohlgemuth, R A Radtke, G R Marsh, and R E Quillian.
• Psychology Service (116B), VA Medical Center, 508 Fulton St, Durham, NC 27705, USA. jack.edinger@duke.edu
• JAMA. 2001 Apr 11; 285 (14): 1856-64.

ContextUse of nonpharmacological behavioral therapy has been suggested for treatment of chronic primary insomnia, but well-blinded, placebo-controlled trials demonstrating effective behavioral therapy for sleep-maintenance insomnia are lacking.ObjectiveTo test the efficacy of a hybrid cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) compared with both a first-generation behavioral treatment and a placebo therapy for treating primary sleep-maintenance insomnia.Design And SettingRandomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial conducted at a single academic medical center, with recruitment from January 1995 to July 1997.PatientsSeventy-five adults (n = 35 women; mean age, 55.3 years) with chronic primary sleep-maintenance insomnia (mean duration of symptoms, 13.6 years).InterventionsPatients were randomly assigned to receive CBT (sleep education, stimulus control, and time-in-bed restrictions; n = 25), progressive muscle relaxation training (RT; n = 25), or a quasi-desensitization (placebo) treatment (n = 25). Outpatient treatment lasted 6 weeks, with follow-up conducted at 6 months.Main Outcome MeasuresObjective (polysomnography) and subjective (sleep log) measures of total sleep time, middle and terminal wake time after sleep onset (WASO), and sleep efficiency; questionnaire measures of global insomnia symptoms, sleep-related self-efficacy, and mood.ResultsCognitive behavioral therapy produced larger improvements across the majority of outcome measures than did RT or placebo treatment. For example, sleep logs showed that CBT-treated patients achieved an average 54% reduction in their WASO whereas RT-treated and placebo-treated patients, respectively, achieved only 16% and 12% reductions in this measure. Recipients of CBT also showed a greater normalization of sleep and subjective symptoms than did the other groups with an average sleep time of more than 6 hours, middle WASO of 26.6 minutes, and sleep efficiency of 85.1%. In contrast, RT-treated patients continued to report a middle WASO of 43.3 minutes and sleep efficiency of 78.8%.ConclusionsOur results suggest that CBT represents a viable intervention for primary sleep-maintenance insomnia. This treatment leads to clinically significant sleep improvements within 6 weeks and these improvements appear to endure through 6 months of follow-up.

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