One Session of CBT-I in a Primary Care Setting Improves Sleep

Chronic insomnia is commonly reported in the fast-paced nature of primary care settings. A recent study tested the efficacy of a one-session CBT-I intervention for primary care. Adult patients with clinically elevated insomnia symptoms were randomly assigned to receive either one-session of CBT-I or an active attentional control. The outcome included two primary measures of insomnia: total wake time (TWT) during the night and sleep efficiency (SE), which measures time asleep relative to time in bed (good sleepers average a SE of greater than 90% compared to a SE of 75% or less for insomnia patients). Outcomes were assessed at baseline, post-treatment, and follow-up. At post-treatment, the CBT-I group showed greater improvements than the control group in TWT and SE, and these differences persisted at the 1-month follow-up. Specifically, the CBT-I group demonstrated a one-hour greater reduction in TWT and a 10% greater improvement in SE. This study suggests that just one session of CBT-I in a primary care setting can produce significant improvement in sleep in insomnia patients.