Total wake time at six weeks was reduced 52 percent in the cognitive behavioral therapy group compared with 4 percent and 16 percent in the zopiclone and placebo groups respectively.

Borge Sivertsen of the University of Bergen in Norway and colleagues conducted a randomized controlled trial from January 2004 to December 2005 to compare the short- and long-term clinical efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, and the non-benzodiazepine sleep medication zopiclone.

The trial included 46 adults -- average age 60.8 years; 22 women -- with chronic primary insomnia.

52% Reduction in Wake Time

The total time spent awake during the night for the CBT group improved significantly more than both the placebo group at six weeks and the zopiclone group at both six weeks and six months.

The zopiclone group did not differ significantly from the placebo group, according to Sivertsen.

Total wake time at six weeks was reduced 52 percent in the CBT group compared with 4 percent and 16 percent in the zopiclone and placebo groups on PSG testing, respectively, according to the study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

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