Stimulus-control: nonpharmacologic treatment for insomnia.
Year: 1998
Type: article
Abstract: OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the efficacy and applicability of a behavioural treatment for insomnia that can be administered by family physicians in various clinical settings. DESIGN: Efficacy of the treatment was evaluated by single-case experimental designs (multiple baseline across subjects). Applicability was assessed through semistructured interviews with physicians. SETTING: Two private offices, two offices in community health centres, and one office in a family medicine unit. PARTICIPANTS: Six general practitioners and 24 chronic insomniac patients recruited through media advertisements and from physicians' practices. Of an initial 38 subjects screened, six were excluded for sleep-onset latency less than 30 minutes, five for psychological conditions, one for physical handicaps, and two for other reasons. INTERVENTIONS: Physicians used stimulus-control treatment during individual therapeutic sessions. Patients using hypnotics were encouraged to taper off their medications after treatment was initiated. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Time it took patients to get to sleep (sleep-onset latency), amount of hypnotic use, and practitioners' evaluation of the treatment. RESULTS: Fifteen patients completed the treatment; 80% of them reduced their sleep-onset latency. Six of the seven patients using hypnotics at the beginning of the study reduced or stopped their medications. All therapeutic gains were maintained at 3 and 6 months. Physicians thought stimulus-control treatment could be used in medical practice, but specified that it was most useful for highly motivated patients. CONCLUSION: Family physicians can use stimulus-control treatment effectively for patients with chronic insomnia. This nonpharmacologic approach could help motivated patients reduce their use of hypnotics.
Source: PubMed Central
Authors: L Baillargeon, M Demers, R Ladouceur
Institution: Université Laval
Language: English
Topic: Sleep and related disorders
Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1763021754