Effectiveness and Cost-effectiveness of iCBT-I in Clinical Settings

Application of internet-delivered cognitive-behavior treatment for insomnia (iCBT-I) is a perspective method that can fill the gap created by the discrepancy between insomnia cases and the number of trained professionals. Although the effectiveness of this method was proven in multiple studies conducted in research settings, it is unclear if iCBT-I outperforms pharmacotherapy which remains a widely used alternative of cognitive-behavior therapy of insomnia (CBT-I). Predictors, mediators, and moderators of treatment effect remain uncertain since previous studies often give contradictory results. The present study aims to investigate clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of an internet-based CBT-I program Sleepsy in comparison with care as usual (CAU) among patients with chronic insomnia (CI) recruited from clinical settings. Baseline data will be further analyzed to find predictors of treatment outcome For these purposes, a parallel-group randomized controlled trial add-on superiority of the iCBT-I program with CAU as a control condition was designed. 110 participants will be referred from the medical doctors in Moscow. Both groups will have access to CAU, treatment prescribed by the referred doctor. Patients of the first group will additionally get access to the iCBT-I program with the opportunity to contact a specialist within the program (guidance on request) in a secured environment. The primary outcome is insomnia severity change from pre- to posttreatment and to post-follow-up. Secondary outcomes include change subjective sleep characteristics, daytime symptoms, comorbid affective disorders, dysfunctional cognitions and behavior, healthcare consumption, and productivity losses. Predictors analysis will include baseline scores of the aforementioned outcomes along with treatment expectancies, personality traits To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first study of iCBT-I to be conducted in clinical settings. We expect that this approach lets us determine the target group more precisely and exclude health problems that may interfere with treatment. It is also expected that patients, referred to iCBT-I from the doctor's office will be more motivated to finish the treatment course that will reduce the drop out rate. CAU as control condition let us reconstruct clinical situation facing practicing doctor. On the other hand, CAU may result in a loss of power to detect a meaningful difference. Limitation of our study is in the impossibility of blinding participants to the treatment condition