Digital cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (Sleepio) is associated with gains in quality-adjusted life years.

Background Insomnia is common, and difficulty with daytime functioning is a core symptom. Studies show cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) improves functioning, but evidence is needed on its value for money. Quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), capturing length and quality of life, provide a standard metric by which to judge whether a treatment is worth its cost. Studies have found QALY gains with therapist-delivered and therapist-guided CBT, but most have not reached statistical significance. Estimates of QALY gains with fully automated digital CBT (dCBT) for insomnia are lacking.

Aim To assess whether dCBT [Sleepio] for insomnia is associated with gains in QALYs compared with a sleep hygiene education control.

Design & setting: A secondary analysis of a large effectiveness trial of 1,711 participants from the UK, US and Australia.

Method: EQ-5D scores, NICE’s preferred measure of health-related quality of life, were predicted (mapped) from PROMIS-10 Global Health scores and used to determine QALYs from baseline to 24-weeks (controlled), and to 48-weeks (uncontrolled).

Results At week-24, QALYs were significantly higher for the dCBT group (mean QALYs 0.375 and 0.362 in the dCBT and control groups respectively, mean difference=0.014 [95%CI=0.008, 0.019]), and this difference was maintained over the 48-week study period (0.026 [0.016, 0.036]). The difference of 0.026 QALYs is equivalent to 9.5 days in perfect health.

Conclusion Sleepio is associated with statistically significant gains in QALYs over time compared with control. Findings may be used to power future studies and inform cost-effectiveness analyses of automated dCBT for insomnia scaled to a population level.

Clinical trial registration

Espie et al. 2019 - ISRCTN60530898 http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN60530898