Last month at the 27th Conference of the European Sleep Research Society, I attended several insightful presentations that are shaping the future of sleep medicine. Below are key trends that have significant clinical implications for healthcare providers like you. These trends underscore the growing intersection between sleep medicine and broader health outcomes, including mental health and chronic disease prevention.
The Link Between Insomnia and Depression: A Two-Way Street
A five-year longitudinal study (Chen et al., University of Laval, Canada) presented at the conference revealed that insomnia exerts a greater effect on the development of depression than the reverse. This adds to the mounting evidence challenging the traditional view that depression primarily leads to sleep disturbances, highlighting the importance of early identification and treatment of insomnia to prevent subsequent mental health issues.
Circadian Disruptions and Diabetes Risk
Circadian disruptions are increasingly being recognized as an important factor in metabolic health. Presenters (Mun et al., Korea Institute of Medicine, Korea) discussed how circadian data derived from fitness wearables could be used to identify early signs of pre-diabetes and diabetes. By addressing disruptions in circadian rhythms, healthcare providers may be able to intervene earlier in the disease process, offering new avenues for prevention and treatment.
CBT-I for Psychiatric Populations
Although Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) is the first-line treatment for insomnia in both healthy individuals and those with mood and anxiety disorders, it is rarely offered to psychiatric in-patients. New evidence (Sheaves et al., Oxford, United Kingdom) shows that CBT-I significantly shortens the time to discharge for psychiatric patients suffering from schizophrenia, psychosis, and manic episodes, emphasizing its role as a powerful adjunctive therapy in psychiatric care.
Caregivers of Dementia Patients Benefit from CBT-I
CBT-I has also been effectively applied to caregivers of elderly individuals with dementia who suffer from insomnia (Jackson et al., Monash University, Australia). The better sleep of the person being cared for leads to significant benefits for the caregiver, improving their mental and physical well-being. This reinforces the importance of addressing sleep health not only in patients but also in those who support them.
Independent validation of HALEO clinical results
A randomized controlled trial conducted by Villeneuve et al. at the University of Laval, Canada, evaluated the effects of HALEO’s Shiftwork-CBT-I program on Quebec City firefighters and police officers, populations particularly vulnerable to insomnia due to rotating shift work. Participants, all experiencing sub-clinical to severe insomnia, were randomized into two groups: the experimental group received HALEO's CBT-I intervention, while the control group received psycho-educational materials. The study found significant improvements in both insomnia severity and depressive symptoms among the experimental group compared to the control group. These findings provide independent validation of HALEO’s clinical outcomes and highlight the effectiveness of their CBT-I program in improving sleep and mental health for emergency service workers on rotating shifts.
The results were published as an abstract in the Journal of Sleep Research, page 282.
HALEO presented the clinical results of their healthcare worker CBT-I program
I had the pleasure of presenting the results (Stenstrom et al., Canada) of HALEO’s CBT-I program for 120 Canadian healthcare workers with clinical insomnia. The results indicated that five to six 30-minute therapist-led video sessions, supported by a mobile app, significantly reduced symptoms of insomnia, anxiety, and depression, with a 90% completion rate. Additionally, 54% of participants either reduced or stopped using sleep medication. These findings highlight that short, accessible, therapist-led telehealth CBT-I treatments, tailored specifically for healthcare workers, are an effective option for improving both sleep and mental health in this population.
The results were published as an abstract in the Journal of Sleep Research, page 276.
Here, you can view the poster I used during my presentation.
