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Sleep Restriction Treatment for Insomnia

Sleep Restriction Treatment for Insomnia: a Randomized Controlled Trial

Status
Completed
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT05548907
Enrollment
148
Registered
2022-09-22
Start date
2022-09-20
Completion date
2023-11-11
Last updated
2023-12-22

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Insomnia

Keywords

insomnia, behavioral treatment, randomized controlled trial

Brief summary

With a prevalence of about 10% chronic insomnia is a common problem. The standard treatment for insomnia is cognitive behavioral therapy. According to many, the core element within this treatment is sleep restriction. This element has been examined separately in a couple of studies and also appears to be effective in isolation. In the current study the aim is to get more information about the effectiveness of this core element of the treatment. For this reason, a randomized study is conducted to compare sleep restriction with a diary control condition. The second aim in this study is to determine mechanisms behind treatments. Network intervention analysis will be used to determine which specific symptoms are associated with therapy success. This is the reason that throughout the study weekly and daily measures will be conducted. The expectations are that: * Participants in the sleep restriction condition will improve more on insomnia complaints than the sleep diary control condition (primary outcome) * Participants in the sleep restriction condition will improve more on sleep diary outcomes and other secondary outcomes compared to the sleep diary control condition (secondary outcome)

Interventions

BEHAVIORALsleep restriction treatment

Treatment consists of sleep restriction treatment for insomnia. In this treatment, participants limit their bedtimes to the time they actually sleep. If they sleep most of the time in bed again then bedtimes are slowly built up again. This treatment technique has already been studied in several trials and found to be effective. Mode of delivery is an online booklet, online exercises and weekly telephone support

BEHAVIORALsleep diary monitoring

As an active control condition people monitor their sleep with a sleep diary (also included in the sleep restriction intervention)

Sponsors

VU University of Amsterdam
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE

Intervention model description

This is a randomized controlled trial where participants are allocated to either a sleep restriction treatment condition or a sleep monitoring control condition. All participants keep a daily sleep diary and fill out weekly questionnaires

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

* Insomnia Severity Index Score ≥ 10 * 18 years or older * Self reported insomnia complaints: being awake ≥30 minutes per night, ≥3 nights per week, ≥ 3 months * Daytime problems related to sleep complaints * Sleep efficiency \< 85% * Dutch speaking

Exclusion criteria

* (1) No acces to internet * (2) Pregnant or breastfeeding * (3) working in night shifts * (4) currently in psychological treatment (started \< 6 months) or on wait-list for treatment * (5) cognitive behavioral treatment for insomnia in last 12 months * (6) concrete suicidal ideation * (7) schizophrenic or psychotic disorder * (8) high level of depressive complaints (BDI-II \> 28) * (9) Instable medication use (medication should not be tampered in last 6 weeks) incidental sleep-medication use is allowed

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Insomnia Severity IndexChange from baseline to six weeks post-randomizationThe Insomnia Severity Index is a seven item-scale scored on a five-point Likert scale (Bastien et al. 2001). The total score ranges from 0 to 28. Higher scores indicate more insomnia.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Sleep diary: wake after sleep onsetChange from baseline to six-weeks post-randomizationWake after sleep onset is assessed with the Carney (2012) consensus sleep diary. This is measured in minutes (higher scores indicating longer wake after sleep onset).
Sleep diary: terminal wakefulnessChange from baseline to six-weeks post-randomizationTerminal wakefulness is assessed with the Carney (2012) consensus sleep diary. This is measured in minutes (higher scores indicating longer terminal wakefulness).
Sleep diary: sleep efficiencyChange from baseline to six-weeks post-randomizationSleep efficiency is assessed with the Carney (2012) consensus sleep diary. This is measured in percentage (higher scores indicating better sleep efficiency).
Sleep diary: total sleep timeChange from baseline to six-weeks post-randomizationTotal sleep time is assessed with the Carney (2012) consensus sleep diary. This is measured in minutes (higher scores indicating longer total sleep time).
Sleep diary: time in bedChange from baseline to six-weeks post-randomizationTime in bed is assessed with the Carney (2012) consensus sleep diary. This is measured in minutes (higher scores indicating longer time in bed).
Cognitive arousalChange from baseline to six weeks post randomizationcognitive arousal is measured daily with a visual analogue scale
Somatic arousalChange from baseline to six weeks post randomizationSomatic arousal is measured daily with a visual analogue scale
Current sleepinessChange from baseline to six weeks post randomizationSleepiness is measured daily with a visual analogue scale
Insomnia SeverityChange from baseline to six-month follow-up (intervention only)The Insomnia Severity Index is a seven item-scale scored on a five-point Likert scale (Bastien et al. 2001). The total score ranges from 0 to 28. Higher scores indicate more insomnia.
Sleep safetyChange from baseline to six weeks post-randomizationSleep safety behaviors are measured with the Dutch translation of the 32-item Sleep-Related Behaviors Questionnaire-SRBQ (Ree & Harvey, 2004). The total score ranges from 0 (no safety behaviors) to 128 (severe safety behaviors).
Sleep diary: sleep onset latencyChange from baseline to six-weeks post-randomizationSleep onset latency is assessed with the Carney (2012) consensus sleep diary. This is measured in minutes (higher scores indicating longer sleep onset latency).
Pre-sleep arousalChange from baseline to six weeks post-randomizationSleep-related arousal was measured with the Pre-sleep Arousal Scale (PSAS) (Nicassio et al. 1985). The PSAS consists of 16 items that range from 1 ('not at all') to 5 ('extremely'), higher scores indicating more arousal (range 16-80).
Sleep-bed associationChange from baseline to six weeks post-randomizationSleep-bed association is measured with a newly constructed scale of 5 items on a 7-point Likert scale (0-6). Higher scores indicating a stronger sleep-bed association (range 0-30)
Dysfunctional beliefsChange from baseline to six weeks post-randomizationDysfunctional beliefs about sleep are measured using the 16-item Dysfunctional Beliefs and Attitudes about Sleep Scale (DBAS-16) (Morin et al. 2017). Items are scored on an 11-point Likert scale (0-10). Higher scores indicating more dysfunctional beliefs (range 0-160).
DepressionChange from baseline to six weeks post-randomizationDepression is measured with the Dutch version of a nine-item depression scale, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9; range 0-27, Cronbach's α = 0.94; Spitzer et al., 1999). Higher scores indicating more depression.
AnxietyChange from baseline to six weeks post-randomizationAnxiety is measured with the Anxiety section of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS-A; Cronbach's α = 0.84, seven items on a four-point Likert scale, scores ranging 0-21; Spinhoven et al., 1997). Higher scores indicating more anxiety.
AcceptanceChange from baseline to six weeks post-randomizationAcceptance is measured with 10-items of the 'flexibiliteits index test'. Items are scored on a 7-point Likert scale (0-6) and higher scores indicate more acceptance (range 0-60).
Adverse eventsSix-weeks post-randomizationParticipants asked to report adverse events (Did anything unpleasant happen to you that was related to your sleep or participation in the trial?
Treatment qualitySix-weeks post-randomizationTreatment quality is rated with a single question 'how do you rate the treatment'. This is rated on an 11-point Likert scale (0-10) with higher scores indicating more satisfaction (intervention only)
Rating coachSix-weeks post-randomizationCoaches are rated with a single question 'how satisfied were you with your coach during the treatment'. This is rated on an 11-point Likert scale (0-10) with higher scores indicating more satisfaction
Epworth Sleepiness ScaleChange from baseline to six weeks post-randomizationTo assess daytime sleepiness the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) is used. The ESS consists of 8-items on a 4-point Likert scale (range 0-24) with higher scores indicating more sleepiness.

Countries

Netherlands

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Apr 2, 2026