Measuring Treatment Efficacy in Insomnia

The measurement of insomnia treatment efficacy has evolved over time. Historically, patient reportmeasures were used to assess sleep the previous night, and, although important, these measureswere not objectively validated. While the advent of polysomnography complemented patient reportsof nocturnal sleep, few studies have evaluated daytime functioning and impact of impaired sleep oncomorbid medical and psychiatric illnesses as measures of the efficacy of hypnotics. In the future,therapeutic endpoints will focus on important factors associated with insomnia, such as enhancedalertness, improved outcomes associated with augmentation therapy for depression, reduction in painseverity, and decreased sleep disturbances associated with hot flashes.