Perceived benefits in a behavioral-medicine insomnia program: a clinical report.
OBJECTIVE
This clinical replication series assessed the perceived outcome of individuals with chronic insomnia who spontaneously sought treatment at a hospital behavioral-medicine insomnia program.


METHODS
Chronic insomnia patients who were treated with a group multifactor behavioral intervention completed posttreatment (n = 102) and 6-month follow-up (n = 70) questionnaires that assessed improvement.


RESULTS
All patients reported improved sleep at posttreatment, with the majority (58%, 59) reporting significant improvement. Of sleep medication users, 91% (62/68) either eliminated or reduced medication use. At 6-month follow-up, 90% (63/70) of respondents rated improvement in sleep as either maintained or enhanced.


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that patients spontaneously seeking treatment for insomnia, including sleep medication users and those with psychological comorbidity, derive significant benefit from a group multifactor behavioral intervention. Several factors, including maintenance of therapeutic gains at long-term follow-up, the average pretreatment duration of insomnia, previous unsuccessful treatment with psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy, and previous research, argue against nonspecific effects playing a significant role in these results.
Jacobs
G D
GD
Division of Behavioral Medicine, Deaconess Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.
Benson
H
H
Friedman
R
R
D000328:Adult; D001521:Behavior Therapy; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D007319:Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome