AASM Updates Treatment Guidelines for Chronic Insomnia Disorder in Adults

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) has updated its guidelines on the use of behavioral and psychological treatments for adults with chronic insomnia disorder.

This clinical practice guideline is an update to prior recommendations provided by the AASM’s task force of experts in sleep medicine and sleep psychology.  The task force utilized the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) method to develop the new recommendations that were then approved by the AASM Board of Directors.

In the update, they strongly recommend the use of multicomponent cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-1). In addition, the update also included 5 conditional recommendations: 

• Multicomponent brief therapies for insomnia (BTIs) are suggested for use in this population.
• Single-component stimulus control is suggested for use in this population.
• Single-component sleep restriction therapy is suggested for use in this population.
• Single-component relaxation therapy is suggested for use in this population.
• Single-component sleep hygiene is not suggested for use in this population.

“The current recommendations were developed to guide treatment decision-making as clinicians work with adult patients with chronic insomnia disorder. The recommendations provided are based on a systematic review of the clinical trial literature that included meta-analyses of extracted data when possible,” they wrote in conclusion.

—Leigh Precopio

Reference:

Edinger JD, Arnedt JT, Bertisch SM, et al. Behavioral and psychological treatments for chronic insomnia disorder in adults: an American Academy of Sleep Medicine clinical practice guideline. J Clin Sleep Med. 2021;17(2):255–262. doi: /10.5664/jcsm.8986