TY - JOUR
T1 - Mobile Phone-Delivered Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia
T2 - A Randomized Waitlist Controlled Trial
AU - Horsch, Corine
AU - Lancee, Jaap
AU - Griffioen-Both, Fiemke
AU - Spruit, Sandor
AU - Fitrianie, Siska
AU - Neerincx, Mark A.
AU - Beun, Robbert Jan
AU - Brinkman, Willem-Paul
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - Background: This study is one of the first randomized controlled trials investigating cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) delivered by a fully automated mobile phone app. Such an app can potentially increase the accessibility of insomnia treatment for the 10% of people who have insomnia.
Objective: The objective of our study was to investigate the efficacy of CBT-I delivered via the Sleepcare mobile phone app, compared with a waitlist control group, in a randomized controlled trial.
Methods: We recruited participants in the Netherlands with relatively mild insomnia disorder. After answering an online pretest questionnaire, they were randomly assigned to the app (n=74) or the waitlist condition (n=77). The app packaged a sleep diary, a relaxation exercise, sleep restriction exercise, and sleep hygiene and education. The app was fully automated and adjusted itself to a participant’s progress. Program duration was 6 to 7 weeks, after which participants received posttest measurements and a 3-month follow-up. The participants in the waitlist condition received the app after they completed the posttest questionnaire. The measurements consisted of questionnaires and 7-day online diaries. The questionnaires measured insomnia severity, dysfunctional beliefs about sleep, and anxiety and depression symptoms. The diary measured sleep variables such as sleep efficiency. We performed multilevel analyses to study the interaction effects between time and condition.
Results: The results showed significant interaction effects (P<.01) favoring the app condition on the primary outcome measures of insomnia severity (d=–0.66) and sleep efficiency (d=0.71). Overall, these improvements were also retained in a 3-month follow-up.
Conclusions: This study demonstrated the efficacy of a fully automated mobile phone app in the treatment of relatively mild insomnia. The effects were in the range of what is found for Web-based treatment in general. This supports the applicability of such technical tools in the treatment of insomnia. Future work should examine the generalizability to a more diverse population. Furthermore, the separate components of such an app should be investigated. It remains to be seen how this app can best be integrated into the current health regimens
AB - Background: This study is one of the first randomized controlled trials investigating cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) delivered by a fully automated mobile phone app. Such an app can potentially increase the accessibility of insomnia treatment for the 10% of people who have insomnia.
Objective: The objective of our study was to investigate the efficacy of CBT-I delivered via the Sleepcare mobile phone app, compared with a waitlist control group, in a randomized controlled trial.
Methods: We recruited participants in the Netherlands with relatively mild insomnia disorder. After answering an online pretest questionnaire, they were randomly assigned to the app (n=74) or the waitlist condition (n=77). The app packaged a sleep diary, a relaxation exercise, sleep restriction exercise, and sleep hygiene and education. The app was fully automated and adjusted itself to a participant’s progress. Program duration was 6 to 7 weeks, after which participants received posttest measurements and a 3-month follow-up. The participants in the waitlist condition received the app after they completed the posttest questionnaire. The measurements consisted of questionnaires and 7-day online diaries. The questionnaires measured insomnia severity, dysfunctional beliefs about sleep, and anxiety and depression symptoms. The diary measured sleep variables such as sleep efficiency. We performed multilevel analyses to study the interaction effects between time and condition.
Results: The results showed significant interaction effects (P<.01) favoring the app condition on the primary outcome measures of insomnia severity (d=–0.66) and sleep efficiency (d=0.71). Overall, these improvements were also retained in a 3-month follow-up.
Conclusions: This study demonstrated the efficacy of a fully automated mobile phone app in the treatment of relatively mild insomnia. The effects were in the range of what is found for Web-based treatment in general. This supports the applicability of such technical tools in the treatment of insomnia. Future work should examine the generalizability to a more diverse population. Furthermore, the separate components of such an app should be investigated. It remains to be seen how this app can best be integrated into the current health regimens
KW - insomnia
KW - smartphone app
KW - cognitive behavioral therapy
KW - eHealth
UR - http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:3295e7b9-4c2c-476b-99b5-413407d0c54c
U2 - 10.2196/jmir.6524
DO - 10.2196/jmir.6524
M3 - Article
SN - 1438-8871
VL - 19
SP - 1
EP - 21
JO - Journal of Medical Internet Research
JF - Journal of Medical Internet Research
IS - 4
ER -