The Effect of Single-Component Sleep Restriction Therapy for Insomnia in Adults: A Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials.

Abstract

A meta-analysis was used to explore the effects of single-component sleep restriction therapy (SRT) on insomnia in adults. PubMed, EMBASE, OVID, Scopus, Cochrane Library, and the Web of Science databases were searched until 31 July 2024. Literature quality evaluation was performed using Cochrane Collaboration's tool, and meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.4 software. For variables with low heterogeneity, fixed-effect models were employed to pool effect sizes; otherwise, the random effect model was used. Nine studies with 1239 participants were included. At post-treatment, fixed-effects models revealed significant benefits of SRT versus control for insomnia severity (points), sleep onset latency (minutes) measured by sleep diary or actigraphy and sleep quality measured by sleep diary. Random-effects models revealed significant benefits of SRT versus control for sleep efficiency (percentage) measured by sleep diary and wake time after sleep onset (minutes) measured by sleep diary. Besides, fixed-effects models revealed that, compared to control, as an expected consequence of the treatment mechanism, SRT led to a significant reduction in total sleep time (minutes). Long-term follow-up data indicated sustained SRT effects on insomnia severity, sleep efficiency and wake time after sleep onset, but not on sleep onset latency. Our results confirm the effectiveness of SRT on insomnia in adults. However, the long-term effects of SRT are not consistent, and further studies are needed in the future.