Insomnia Treatment and Cardiometabolic Health in Older Adults With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Launched by UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES · Aug 23, 2022

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This clinical trial is studying how treating sleep problems can help improve health in older adults with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Many people with PTSD also struggle with insomnia, which means they have trouble sleeping even after getting treatment for their PTSD. The trial will provide a type of therapy called Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) to help with PTSD, followed by a sleep education program to address the ongoing sleep issues. Researchers want to see if improving sleep can also help with overall health, including heart and metabolic health, as well as the quality of life for participants.

To participate in this study, individuals must be veterans aged 50 and older who have received care from a Veterans Health Administration facility in the past year, and have both PTSD and insomnia. Participants will attend sessions at the VA Sepulveda Ambulatory Care Center and will be monitored for six months to see how their sleep, PTSD symptoms, and health markers improve. It's important to note that people with severe health issues, unstable housing, or certain other sleep disorders may not be eligible for this study.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • Community-dwelling Veterans aged 50 years and older
• • Received care from a Veterans Health Administration (VHA) facility in the prior year
• • Diagnosis of PTSD
• • Diagnosis of insomnia disorder
• • Lives within a 50-mile radius of the research offices at the VA Sepulveda Ambulatory Care Center
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • Active substance use or in recovery with less than 90 days of sobriety
• • Too ill to engage in the study procedures (e.g., unable to attend the in-person meetings)
• • Unable to self-consent to participate
• • Unstable housing (as this will impact the research team's ability to retrieve costly and difficult to replace monitoring equipment)
• • Severe cardiovascular or respiratory disease (e.g., ventilatory failure, CHF)
• • Unstable medical or psychiatric disorders (which are a contraindication for behavioral treatment of insomnia)
• • Comorbid sleep disorders (i.e., central sleep apnea syndrome, diagnosed narcolepsy or circadian rhythm sleep-wake phase disorders) based on medical record review and baseline assessment data, or untreated, severe sleep disordered breathing (SDB) as assessed via WatchPAT or previous clinical evaluation (apnea-hypopnea index \[AHI\] ≥ 30; or AHI ≥ 15 plus Epworth Sleepiness Scale \[ESS\] score ≥ 10) that better explain sleep difficulties