Background: Despite cognitive-behavioral therapy for
insomnia (CBT-I) being the recommended treatment for
insomnia disorder, its access remains very limited. Automated Internet-delivered CBT-I (eCBT-I) is an emerging cost-effective strategy for adults with
insomnia, however no such program is currently available in French Language. We evaluated a French-speaking, eCBT-I intervention to improve
insomnia disorder in comparison to minimal psychoeducation
therapy (mPT). Methods: Forty-six adults with
insomnia disorder were randomly allocated to eCBT-I or mPT. The eCBT-I program consisted of seven sessions that delivered the typical components of CBT-I during 12 weeks. The mPT provided structured and non-tailored information about sleep and
insomnia during a 1 h session.
Insomnia severity Index (ISI, primary outcome), measures of
fatigue,
sleepiness, anxiety, depressive symptoms and quality of life were collected at baseline and endpoint. Electronic sleep diaries were completed over 2 week periods pre- and post-intervention. Results: Compared to mPT, eCBT-I resulted in greater decrease in ISI scores between baseline and endpoint. Sleep diaries parameters improved in both groups, with a greater improvement in the eCBT-I group. Patients allocated to eCBT-I group also improved depressive,
fatigue, anxiety symptoms, and quality of life. Among patients with CNS-active drug at baseline, 91.7% reduced or stopped their
hypnotic medication, and 16.7% in the mPT group. Conclusions: The present eCBT-I program seems feasible, acceptable and effective in reducing
insomnia severity and
insomnia-related functional outcomes in this small clinically-derived population. Given the high prevalence of
insomnia, our data are supportive of the use of such program as an effective alternative to treat
insomnia in daily clinical practice in French speaking countries.