Napping In Insomnia Patients Undergoing CBT-I

CBT-I is the gold standard treatment for chronic insomnia, and there is clear evidence that short recuperative naps increase alertness and reduce fatigue. However, there is a lack of consensus on whether insomnia patients should avoid afternoon naps.

A new study examined the effects of napping in over 100 insomnia patients undergoing CBT-I by studying a napping group compared with a non-napping group. The study found that napping enhanced early afternoon alertness and did not adversely affect CBT-I-mediated improvements in insomnia as measured by sleep-diary reported measures of sleep efficiency, sleep-onset latency, and wake time after sleep onset.

Because the napping group improvements from CBT-I were similar to the no-nap group, napping does not appear to have a deleterious impact on the effectiveness of CBT-I.  Additionally, napping may strengthen adherence to CBT-I by increasing afternoon alertness.