Identifying predictors of the amount of veteran participation in cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia in the Veterans Affairs health care system.

Abstract

Insomnia is a prevalent and negatively impactful disorder among veterans. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has committed significant resources to the development and dissemination of training related to cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), the recommended first-line intervention for chronic insomnia disorder. It has been established that VA clinicians can be effectively trained to deliver high fidelity CBT-I and that treatment results in significant improvements in insomnia. However, there is a paucity of research examining rates and predictors of veterans' participation in CBT-I in routine VA clinical care. In this study, we conducted a secondary analysis of data from VA electronic health records (EHR) to determine individual predisposing, enabling, and need factors associated with CBT-I participation. The sample included veterans who had at least one CBT-I templated note from the VA mid-Atlantic region of the United States (VISN4) between 2015 and 2019 in their chart (N = 2,801). CBT-I participation was defined by number of CBT-I templated notes occurring within a 6-month period from the initial note. Findings indicated that veterans most often completed only one session of CBT-I and, on average, completed approximately three sessions. Results from multinomial logistic regression identified significant associations of race, the presence of comorbid mental health disorders, rurality, presence of insomnia diagnosis, and insomnia medication with CBT-I participation; associations varied depending on how CBT-I participation was defined. More work is needed to better understand factors contributing to participation and reasons for completion and noncompletion of CBT-I. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).