Follow-Up Analyses From a Wait-List Controlled Trial of Occupational Therapist-Delivered Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia Among Veterans With Chronic Insomnia.

IMPORTANCE

Veterans often experience chronic insomnia, and professionals capable of delivering effective interventions to address this problem are lacking.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the efficacy of the Restoring Effective Sleep Tranquility (REST) program, an occupational therapist-led cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) intervention to treat sleep problems among post- 9/11 veterans.

DESIGN

Wait-list controlled trial with 3-mo follow-up.

SETTING

Community-based veteran support program in a Mountain West university.

PARTICIPANTS

Fifteen post-9/11 veterans with sleep disturbances who were assigned to either the REST intervention or a wait-list control group. Outcomes and Measures: Sleep-related, health-related, and participation-related patient-reported outcomes (PROs) and daily sleep diary variables.

RESULTS

Wait-list controlled trial benefits included improved sleep-related (e.g., sleep disturbance), health-related (e.g., depression), and participation-related (e.g., meaningful activity) PROs. Findings were confirmed after participants in both the intervention and the control groups (n = 13) received the REST intervention, including improved daily sleep diary outcomes (e.g., sleep efficiency). All gains were maintained at 3 mo.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

Occupational therapy practitioners with advanced training in CBT-I have the potential to safely deliver an effective CBT-I intervention to veterans with sleep disturbances in a community-based setting. What This Article Adds: Occupational therapy practitioners with sleep-related education and training can positively affect the well-being of their clients through improving sleep participation.