Lormetazepam (Lorámet): a multicentre assessment of its efficacy and acceptability as a hypnotic in out-patients with sleep disturbances.

In an open, multicentre study, the short-acting benzodiazepine hypnotic lormetazepam (Loramet) was administered nightly (1-2 mg p.o.) for a period of 7 nights to 665 out-patients with various types of sleep disturbances. The patients assessed the efficacy and acceptability of lormetazepam with the aid of a simple diary card and a set of visual analogue scales. The results showed that about 75% of the patients reported a significant improvement in their sleep pattern. The time to onset of sleep was decreased, the number of nocturnal wakings was reduced and the patients reported waking in the morning more refreshed and co-ordinated. The effects were significant after the first night and there were further significant improvements by the seventh night on the drug. In patients who had prior experience of other hypnotics, twice as many preferred lormetazepam to temazepam and three times as many preferred lormetazepam to nitrazepam. Nine patients withdrew from the study due to lack of efficacy and only fifteen patients dropped out following the occurrence of side-effects, mainly drowsiness and light-headedness. It was concluded that lormetazepam is an effective and highly acceptable hypnotic in patients with sleep disturbances.