Stepped Care Model for the Wider Dissemination of Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia Among Cancer Patients

Summary

Insomnia is very common in cancer patients. When left untreated, insomnia can lead to numerous serious consequences (e.g., psychological disorders) for the individual and significant costs for society (e.g., increased medical consultations). Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT), a form of psychotherapy, is now considered the treatment of choice for insomnia and its efficacy has been demonstrated in clinical studies conducted in cancer patients. Unfortunately, CBT for insomnia (CBT-I) is not widely accessible as only a few cancer clinics have mental health professionals formally trained in the administration of this treatment. Innovative models of treatment delivery are therefore needed to make sure that every cancer patient with insomnia receives the care he/she needs. A stepped care approach in which patients only receive the level of treatment that they need, beginning with a minimal, less costly, intervention followed by more intensive treatment if required, has shown some promises for other psychological disorders (e.g., depression). Although its relevance has been emphasized to make CBT-I more accessible, its utility has never been investigated. The main goal of this randomized non-inferiority study is to assess the efficacy and costeffectiveness of a stepped care CBT-I as compared with standard care. Our hypothesis is that a stepped care approach will not be statistically inferior in terms of efficacy as compared to usual care, while being much less costly (better cost-effectiveness ratio). Three hundred cancer patients (mixed cancer sites) with insomnia symptoms will be assigned to: (1) stepped care CBT-I (n = 118) or (2) standard care (n = 59), consisting of 6 weekly sessions administered individually by a professional.

Conditions

• Insomnia

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Professionally-administered cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I)

The treatment content will be the same whether it is administered by a professional or self-administered. This multimodal approach combines behavioural (i.e., stimulus control therapy, sleep restriction), cognitive (i.e., cognitive restructuring), and educational (i.e., sleep hygiene) strategies that are administered over a 6-week period.

BEHAVIORAL

Web-based cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I)

The treatment content will be the same whether it is administered by a professional or self-administered. Each week, the patients will first have to read written information on the website, and then watch a video capsule (duration between 5 and 20 min each). The treatment material will be identical to the video (DVD)-based CBT-I that we previously developed. Patients will complete their daily sleep diary electronically on the website and the content will be interactive. It will include the sending of automated emails to remind participants to complete the treatment tasks and encourage adherence, provision of tailored feedback (e.g., texts, charts) based on the information that they provide in their sleep diary, as well as quizzes with automated correction to reinforce patients' understanding of the content.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)

  collaborator OTHER_GOV

• CHU de Quebec-Universite Laval

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

75 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2013-09-30

Primary Completion

2018-11-30

Completion

2018-11-30

Countries

• Canada

Study Locations