Predicting clinically significant response to cognitive behavior therapy for chronic insomnia in general medical practice: Analyses of outcome data at 12 months posttreatment

The clinical efficacy of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) for chronic insom nia has been established, yet clinical effectiveness is less clear. This st udy presents data on 109 patients from general practice during a formal eva luation of clinical effectiveness. Two thirds achieved normative values of less than or equal to 30 min for sleep latency and wakefulness during the n ight after CBT. Furthermore, almost half of the sample reduced sleeplessnes s by greater than or equal to 50% Logistic regression revealed that initial severity did not contraindicate, good outcome. Rather, greater sleep distu rbance was positively associated with large symptom reduction, although low er endpoint scores were less likely. Similarly, symptoms of anxiety, depres sion, and thinking errors positively predicted good outcome. Hypnotic using patients responded equally well to CBT, and demographic factors were of no significant predictive value. It is concluded that CBT is clinically and d urably effective for persistent insomnia in routines practice.