The efficacy of intensive sleep retraining for insomnia: A systematic review and research agenda.

Intensive sleep retraining (ISR) is a brief behavioural treatment for sleep onset insomnia, administered in just a single overnight treatment session. This systematic review evaluates existing trials about the efficacy of intensive sleep retraining for treating insomnia, to inform whether there is enough evidence to recommend its use for clinical practice. A systematic literature search was conducted across three databases, yielding 108 results. Of these studies, three were deemed suitable for inclusion in this review. The included studies consistently reported significant reductions in insomnia symptoms following intensive sleep retraining, particularly decreases in sleep diary-derived sleep latency and increases in total sleep time. Based on these inconclusive but promising findings, a research agenda is proffered to test intensive sleep retraining as a treatment for insomnia. Large randomised controlled trials are needed to elucidate the potential benefits of intensive sleep retraining for different populations with insomnia, as are mechanistic trials to test which components underlie its seemingly therapeutic effects. Since more practical modalities of intensive sleep retraining administration have been developed, such trials are more feasible to conduct now than ever before.

Wearable Device-Delivered Intensive Sleep Retraining as an Adjunctive Treatment to Kickstart Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia.

Intensive Sleep Retraining is a behavioral treatment for sleep onset insomnia that produces substantial benefits in symptoms after a single treatment session. This technique involves falling asleep and waking up shortly afterward repeatedly: a process that is thought to retrain people to fall asleep quickly when attempting sleep. Although originally confined to the sleep laboratory, recent technological developments mean that this technique is feasible to self-administer at home. With multiple randomised controlled trials required to confirm its efficacy, Intensive Sleep Retraining may serve as an adjunctive treatment to cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia, improving short-term efficacy by kick-starting treatment gains.