The Sleep Study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Stabilising sleep for patients admitted at acute crisis to a psychiatric hospital: a single blind, pilot randomised controlled trial
IRAS ID
183212
Contact name
Victoria Rush
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
The majority of people who are admitted to hospital for an acute psychiatric episode report insomnia. Clinical guidelines recommend cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBTi) for the treatment of persistent insomnia (NICE, 2015), yet this intervention has never been adapted or tested on a psychiatric inpatient setting. Therefore, CBTi is almost never offered to this patient group. We will complete a pilot randomised controlled trial (RCT) of a sleep intervention adapted particularly for people experiencing an acute episode of mental illness. CBTi will be the central approach, which will be augmented with light therapy to target disruption of the body clock (circadian rhythm), which is very common in this group. The intervention will be provided in addition to standard ward care and compared with standard care alone. We will recruit 50 patients presenting with symptoms of insomnia, i.e. having sleep problems. All will be recruited from Vaughan Thomas ward, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust. Participants will be randomly allocated to receive either the sleep intervention (in addition to standard care), delivered intensively over a two week period, or to continue with usual care alone. Sleep, emotional wellbeing and psychiatric symptoms will be assessed at weeks 0, 2, 4 and 12. The aim of the study is to establish trial procedures, to inform a larger scale test of the efficacy of the intervention. The study will be the first to adapt a sleep intervention for this population. Given the prevalence of sleep disruption in this group, it will be a highly relevant treatment for patients.
REC name
East Midlands - Leicester Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/EM/0341
Date of REC Opinion
12 Aug 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion