How Would You Manage This Patient With Chronic Insomnia? Grand Rounds Discussion From Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Annals Beyond the Guidelines

Insomnia, which is characterized by persistent sleep difficulties in association with daytime dysfunction, is a common concern in clinical practice. Chronic insomnia disorder is defined as symptoms that occur at least 3 times per week and persist for at least 3 months. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) published recent guidelines on behavioral and psychological treatment as well as pharmacologic therapy for chronic insomnia disorder. Regarding behavioral and psychological approaches, the only intervention strongly recommended was multicomponent cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia. Regarding pharmacologic treatment, the AASM, based on weak evidence, suggested a limited number of medications that might be useful and others that probably are not. Here, 2 clinicians with expertise in sleep disorders—one a clinical psychologist and the other a physician—debate the management of a patient with chronic insomnia who has been treated with medications. They discuss the role of behavioral and psychological interventions and pharmacologic therapy for chronic insomnia and how the primary care practitioner should approach such a patient.

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Annals Beyond the Guidelines

From Annals of Internal Medicine (annals.org), Beyond the Guidelines is an educational feature based on recent guidelines. Each considers a patient (or patients) who "falls between the cracks" of available evidence and for whom the optimal clinical course in unclear. Presented at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) Grand Rounds, each conference reviews the background evidence and experts then discuss the patient(s) and field audience questions. Videos of the interviews and conference, the slide presentation, and a CME/MOC activity accompany each module.