Internet-Delivered Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to Treat Insomnia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

BackgroundInsomnia is of major public health importance. While cognitive behavioral therapy is beneficial, in-person treatment is often unavailable. We assessed the effectiveness of internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia.ObjectivesThe primary objectives were to determine whether online cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia could improve sleep efficiency and reduce the severity of insomnia in adults. Secondary outcomes included sleep quality, total sleep time, time in bed, sleep onset latency, wake time after sleep onset, and number of nocturnal awakenings.Data SourcesWe searched PubMed/MEDLINE, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, PsycInfo, Cochrane Library, Embase, and the Web of Science for randomized trials.MethodsStudies were eligible if they were randomized controlled trials in adults that reported application of cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia via internet delivery. Mean differences in improvement in sleep measures were calculated using the Hartung-Knapp-Sidik-Jonkman method for random effects meta-analysis.ResultsWe found 15 trials, all utilizing a pretest-posttest randomized control group design. Sleep efficiency was 72% at baseline and improved by 7.2% (95% CI: 5.1%, 9.3%; pConclusionIn conclusion, internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy is effective in improving sleep in adults with insomnia. Efforts should be made to educate the public and expand access to this therapy. Registration Number, Prospero: CRD42015017622