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Brigitte Holzinger,1,2 Franziska Nierwetberg,1 Frances Chung,3 Courtney J Bolstad,4 Bjørn Bjorvatn,5 Ngan Yin Chan,6 Yves Dauvilliers,7 Colin A Espie,8 Fang Han,9 Yuichi Inoue,10 Damien Leger,11 Tainá Macêdo,12 Kentaro Matsui,13,14 Ilona Merikanto,15,16 Charles M Morin,17 Sérgio A Mota-Rolim,18 Markku Partinen,19 Giuseppe Plazzi,20,21 Thomas Penzel,22 Mariusz Sieminski,23 Yun Kwok Wing,6 Serena Scarpelli,24 Michael R Nadorff,4,25 Luigi De Gennaro24,26 1Institute for Consciousness and Dream Research, Vienna, Austria; 2Medical University Vienna, Postgraduate Master ULG Sleep Coaching, Vienna, Austria; 3Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, University Health Network, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; 4Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS, USA; 5Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, University of Bergen and Norwegian Competence Center for Sleep Disorders, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway; 6Li Chiu Kong Family Sleep Assessment Unit, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region, People’s Republic of China; 7Sleep-Wake Disorders Unit, Department of Neurology, Gui-de-Chauliac Hospital, CHU Montpellier, INM, Univ Montpellier, INSERM, Montpellier, France; 8Sir Jules Thorn Sleep & Circadian Neuroscience Institute (SCNi), University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; 9Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Peking University People’s Hospital, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; 10Tokyo Medical University, Tokyo, Japan; 11Université de Paris, APHP, Hôtel-Dieu, Centre du Sommeil et de la Vigilance, Paris, France; 12Department of Psychology, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil; 13Department of Laboratory Medicine, National Center Hospital, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Kodaira, Japan; 14Department of Psychiatry, Tokyo Women’s Medical University, Tokyo, Japan; 15SleepWell Research Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; 16Department of Public Health and Welfare, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland; 17École de Psychologie, Centre d’étude des troubles du sommeil, Centre de recherche CERVO/Brain Research Center, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada; 18Brain Institute, Physiology and Behavior Department, and Onofre Lopes University Hospital - Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil; 19Helsinki Sleep Clinic, Terveystalo Healthcare, and Department of Neurosciences, Clinicum, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; 20IRCCS, Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, Bologna, Italy; 21Department of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neural Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy; 22Sleep Medicine Center, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany; 23Department of Emergency Medicine, Medical University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland; 24Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy; 25Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA; 26IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, ItalyCorrespondence: Brigitte Holzinger, Tel +43 699 101 99 042, Email brigitte.holzinger@meduniwien.ac.atPurpose: The COVID-19 pandemic affects mental health and sleep, resulting in frequent nightmares. Therefore, identifying factors associated with nightmare frequency is important, as it can indicate mental health issues. The study aimed to investigate increases in nightmare frequency comparing the pre-pandemic and pandemic period, and identify its risk factors. Further, the mediating role of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms between the pandemic and nightmares is explored.Patients and Methods: For this cross-sectional survey data were obtained via self-rating online survey (ICOSS: details in Partinen et al, 2021), which was open to anyone older than 18 years. The final volunteer sample consisted of 15,292 participants, divided according to their nightmare frequency (high: ≥ 1– 2 nights/week; low: < 1– 2 nights/week). A total of 9100 participants were excluded if answers on variables of interest were missing or receiving rewards for participation. Chi-square tests identified changes of nightmare frequency. Predictors of high nightmare frequency were assessed using logistic regression and presented as Odds Ratios. Post-hoc mediation models were used to investigate the role of post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS).Results: The mean age was 41.63 (SD=16.55) with 64.05% females. High nightmare frequency increased significantly from 13.24% to 22.35% during the pandemic. Factors associated with it included self-reported PTSS (OR=2.11), other mental disorders and various sleep disorders or problems. Financial burden due to the pandemic, confinement, having had COVID-19, and work situation during the pandemic were associated with nightmare frequency, those relations were partly mediated through PTSS.Conclusion: Our results display the pandemic influence on nightmare frequency, which in turn connects to multiple mental health and sleep factors. These relations were partly mediated through PTSS. The COVID-19 pandemic appears to have caused traumatization of a substantial proportion of society. Health care workers should consider nightmares in their screening routines, as it might indicate PTSS and/or other mental and sleep disorders.Keywords: COVID-19, nightmares, mental health, sleep, post-traumatic stress disorder, collective trauma

Serena Scarpelli,1 Michael R Nadorff,2,3 Bjørn Bjorvatn,4 Frances Chung,5 Yves Dauvilliers,6 Colin A Espie,7 Yuichi Inoue,8 Kentaro Matsui,9,10 Ilona Merikanto,11,12 Charles M Morin,13 Thomas Penzel,14 Mariusz Sieminski,15 Han Fang,16 Tainá Macêdo,17 Sérgio A Mota-Rolim,18 Damien Leger,19 Giuseppe Plazzi,20,21 Ngan Yin Chan,22 Markku Partinen,23 Courtney J Bolstad,2 Brigitte Holzinger,24,25 Luigi De Gennaro1,26 1Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy; 2Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS, USA; 3Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA; 4Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Bergen and Norwegian Competence Center for Sleep Disorders, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway; 5Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, University Health Network, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; 6Sleep-Wake Disorders Unit, Department of Neurology, Gui-de-Chauliac Hospital, CHU Montpellier, INM, Univ Montpellier, INSERM, Montpellier, France; 7Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; 8Tokyo Medical University, Tokyo, Japan; 9Department of Laboratory Medicine, National Center Hospital, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Kodaira, Japan; 10Department of Psychiatry, Tokyo Women’s Medical University, Tokyo, Japan; 11SleepWell Research Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; 12Department of Public Health Solutions, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland; 13École de Psychologie, Centre d’étude des troubles du sommeil, Centre de recherche CERVO/Brain Research Center, Université Laval, Québec, Canada; 14Sleep Medicine Center, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany; 15Department of Emergency Medicine, Medical University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland; 16Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Peking University People’s Hospital, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; 17Department of Psychology, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil; 18Brain Institute, Physiology and Behavior Department, and Onofre Lopes University Hospital - Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil; 19Université de Paris, APHP, Hôtel-Dieu, Centre du Sommeil et de la Vigilance, Paris, France; 20IRCCS, Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, Bologna, Italy; 21Department of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neural Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy; 22Li Chiu Kong Family Sleep Assessment Unit, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, Special Administrative Regions, People’s Republic of China; 23Helsinki Sleep Clinic, Terveystalo Healthcare, and Department of Neurosciences, Clinicum, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; 24Institute for Consciousness and Dream Research, Vienna, Austria; 25Medical University Vienna, Postgraduate Master Program Medical Sleep Coaching, ZK-Schlafcoaching, Vienna, Austria; 26IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, ItalyCorrespondence: Luigi De Gennaro, Tel +39-06-49917647, Fax +39-06-49917711, Email luigi.degennaro@uniroma1.itIntroduction: A growing number of studies have demonstrated that the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic has severely affected sleep and dream activity in healthy people. To date, no investigation has examined dream activity specifically in COVID-19 patients.Methods: As part of the International COVID-19 Sleep Study (ICOSS), we compared 544 COVID-19 participants with 544 matched-controls. A within-subjects comparison between pre-pandemic and pandemic periods computed separately for controls and COVID-19 participants were performed on dream recall and nightmare frequency (DRF; NF). Also, non-parametric comparisons between controls and COVID-19 participants were carried out. Further, we compared psychological measures between the groups collected during pandemic. Ordinal logistic regression to detect the best predictors of NF was performed.Results: We found that people reported greater dream activity during the pandemic. Comparisons between controls and COVID-19 participants revealed a) no difference between groups concerning DRF in the pre-pandemic period and during the pandemic; b) no difference between groups concerning nightmare frequency in the pre-pandemic period; and c) COVID-19 participants reported significantly higher NF than controls during pandemic (p = 0.003). Additionally, we showed that a) anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress-disorder (PTSD) symptom scores were higher in COVID-19 participants than controls; and b) quality of life and health as well as wellbeing (WHO-5) scores were significantly higher in controls than COVID-19 participants. Finally, ordinal logistic regression indicates that DRF (p < 0.001), PTSD (p < 0.001), anxiety (p = 0.018), insomnia (p = 0.039), COVID-19 severity (p = 0.014), sleep duration (p = 0.003) and age (p = 0.001) predicted NF.Discussion: Our work shows strong associations between increased nightmares in those reporting having had COVID-19. This suggests that the more that people were affected by COVID-19, the greater the impact upon dream activity and quality of life.Keywords: dreaming, pandemic, sleep, PTSD, anxiety, COVID-19 severity

Luiz Eduardo Mateus Brandão,1 Teemu Martikainen,1 Ilona Merikanto,2– 4 Brigitte Holzinger,5,6 Charles M Morin,7– 9 Colin A Espie,10,11 Courtney J Bolstad,12 Damien Leger,13 Frances Chung,14 Giuseppe Plazzi,15 Yves Dauvilliers,16 Kentaro Matsui,17,18 Luigi De Gennaro,19– 21 Mariusz Sieminski,22 Michael R Nadorff,12,23 Ngan Yin Chan,24 Yun Kwok Wing,24 Sérgio Arthuro Mota-Rolim,25– 27 Yuichi Inoue,28 Markku Partinen,29,30 Christian Benedict,31 Bjorn Bjorvatn,32,33 Jonathan Cedernaes1,34 1Department of Medical Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden; 2Department of Public Health Solutions, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland; 3Department of Psychology and Logopedics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; 4Orton Orthopaedic Hospital, Helsinki, Finland; 5ZK-Schlafcoaching, Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria; 6Institute for Consciousness and Dream Research, Vienna, Austria; 7École de Psychologie, Université Laval, Québec, Canada; 8Centre d’étude des troubles du sommeil, Université Laval, Québec, Canada; 9Centre de recherche CERVO/Brain Research Center, Université Laval, Québec, Canada; 10Sleep & Circadian Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; 11Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; 12Department of Psychology, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS, USA; 13APHP, VIFASOM, Hôtel-Dieu, Centre du Sommeil et de la Vigilance, Université de Paris, Paris, France; 14Department of Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, Toronto Western Hospital, University Health Network, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; 15Department of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neural Science, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy; 16Sleep-Wake Disorders Center, Department of Neurology, Gui-de-Chauliac Hospital, Institute for Neurosciences of Montpellier INM, INSERM, University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France; 17National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry National Institute of Mental Health, Department of Clinical Laboratory and Department of Sleep-Wake Disorders, Tokyo, Japan; 18Tokyo Women’s Medical University, Department of Psychiatry, Tokyo, Japan; 19Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy; 20IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy; 21IRCCS Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, Bologna, Italy; 22Department of Emergency Medicine, Medical University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland; 23Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA; 24Li Chiu Kong Family Sleep Assessment Unit, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, People’s Republic of China; 25Brain Institute, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brazil; 26Physiology and Behaviour Department, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brazil; 27Onofre Lopes University Hospital, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brazil; 28Department of Somnology, Tokyo Medical University, Tokyo, Japan; 29Helsinki Sleep Clinic, Vitalmed Research Center, Terveystalo Biobank and Research, Helsinki, Finland; 30Department of Neurosciences, Clinicum, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; 31Sleep Science Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden; 32Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway; 33Norwegian Competence Center for Sleep Disorders, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway; 34Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Molecular Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USACorrespondence: Jonathan Cedernaes Email jonathan.cedernaes@medsci.uu.sePurpose: Lifestyle and work habits have been drastically altered by restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Whether the associated changes in sleep timing modulate the risk of suffering from symptoms of insomnia, the most prevalent sleep disorder, is however incompletely understood. Here, we evaluate the association between the early pandemic-associated change in 1) the magnitude of social jetlag (SJL) – ie, the difference between sleep timing on working vs free days – and 2) symptoms of insomnia.Patients and Methods: A total of 14,968 anonymous participants (mean age: 40 years; 64% females) responded to a standardized internet-based survey distributed across 14 countries. Using logistic multivariate regression, we examined the association between the degree of social jetlag and symptoms of insomnia, controlling for important confounders like social restriction extension, country specific COVID-19 severity and psychological distress, for example.Results: In response to the pandemic, participants reported later sleep timing, especially during workdays. Most participants (46%) exhibited a reduction in their SJL, whereas 20% increased it; and 34% reported no change in SJL. Notably, we found that both increased and decreased SJL, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, were associated with later sleep midpoint (indicating a later chronotype) as well as more recurrent and moderate-to-severe symptoms of insomnia (about 23– 54% higher odds ratio than subjects with unchanged SJL). Primarily those with reduced SJL shifted their bedtimes to a later timepoint, compared with those without changes in SJL.Conclusion: Our findings offer important insights into how self-reported changes to the stability of sleep/wake timing, as reflected by changes in SJL, can be a critical marker of the risk of experiencing insomnia-related symptoms – even when individuals manage to reduce their social jetlag. These findings emphasize the clinical importance of analyzing sleep-wake regularity.Keywords: BNSQ, ISI, midsleep, MSFsc, PHQ-4, psychological distress

Eirin Fränkl,1 Serena Scarpelli,2 Michael R Nadorff,3,4 Bjørn Bjorvatn,5 Courtney J Bolstad,3 Ngan Yin Chan,6 Frances Chung,7 Yves Dauvilliers,8 Colin A Espie,9 Yuichi Inoue,10,11 Damien Leger,12,13 Tainá Macêdo,14 Kentaro Matsui,15,16 Ilona Merikanto,17– 19 Charles M Morin,20 Sérgio Mota-Rolim,21 Markku Partinen,22,23 Thomas Penzel,24 Giuseppe Plazzi,25,26 Mariusz Sieminski,27 Yun Kwok Wing,6 Luigi De Gennaro,2,28 Brigitte Holzinger1,29 1Institute for Consciousness and Dream Research, Vienna, Austria; 2Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy; 3Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS, USA; 4Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA; 5Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, University of Bergen, and Norwegian Competence Center for Sleep Disorders, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway; 6Li Chiu Kong Family Sleep Assessment Unit, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, People’s Republic of China; 7Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, University Health Network, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; 8Sleep-Wake Disorders Center, Department of Neurology, Gui-de-Chauliac Hospital, Institute for Neurosciences of Montpellier INM, INSERM, University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France; 9Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; 10Department of Somnology, Tokyo Medical University, Tokyo, Japan; 11Japan Somnology Center, Neuropsychiatric Research Institute, Tokyo, Japan; 12Université de Paris, VIFASOM (EA 7331 Vigilance Fatigue, Sommeil et Santé Publique), Paris, France; 13APHP, Hotel-Dieu de Paris, Centre du Sommeil et de la Vigilance, Paris, France; 14Department of Psychology, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil; 15Department of Clinical Laboratory and Department of Sleep-Wake Disorders, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry National Institute of Mental Health, Kodaira, Japan; 16Department of Psychiatry, Tokyo Women’s Medical University, Tokyo, Japan; 17Sleep Well Research Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; 18Department of Public Health Solutions, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland; 19Orton Orthopaedics Hospital, Helsinki, Finland; 20École de Psychologie, Centre d’étude des troubles du sommeil, Centre de recherche CERVO/Brain Research Center, Université Laval, Québec, Canada; 21Brain Institute, Physiology and Behavior Department, and Onofre Lopes University Hospital, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil; 22Helsinki Sleep Clinic, Terveystalo Healthcare, Helsinki, Finland; 23Department of Neurosciences, Clinicum, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; 24Sleep Medicine Center, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany; 25IRCCS, Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, Bologna, Italy; 26Department of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neural Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy; 27Department of Emergency Medicine, Medical University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland; 28IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy; 29Medical University Vienna, ZK-Schlafcoaching, Vienna, AustriaCorrespondence: Brigitte HolzingerInstitute for Consciousness and Dream Research, Canongasse 13/1, Vienna, 1180, AustriaTel +43699-101 99 042Fax +4301-25330334600Email brigitte.holzinger@meduniwien.ac.atObjective: Many have reported odd dreams during the pandemic. Given that dreams are associated with mental health, understanding these changes could provide crucial information about wellbeing during the pandemic. This study explored associations between COVID-19 and dream recall frequency (DRF), and related social, health, and mental health factors.Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional web survey of 19,355 individuals in 14 countries from May to July 2020. We collected data on COVID-19, mental health, sleep and DRF during the pandemic. We performed McNemar Tests to compare low (< 3 nights per week) and high DRF (≥ 3 nights per week) before and during COVID-19 and to evaluate changes in sleep variables segmented by DRF. Chi-square tests were conducted to compare characteristics between low and high DRF. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine associations between various independent variables and DRF.Results: Reports of high DRF during the pandemic were higher than before the pandemic (P< 0.001). Female gender (aOR=1.25, 95% CI 1.10– 1.41), nightmares (aOR=4.22, 95% CI 3.45– 5.17), sleep talking (aOR= 2.36, 1.73– 3.23), sleep maintenance problems (aOR=1.34, 95% CI 1.15– 1.56), symptoms of REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD; aOR=1.24, 95% CI 1.09– 1.41) and repeated disturbing thoughts (posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms) were associated with high DRF. Age group 55– 64 years (aOR=0.69, 95% CI 0.58– 0.83) reported less high DRF than younger participants. Unadjusted OR showed associations between depression, anxiety, and DRF; however, in adjusted regression depression (aOR= 0.71, 0.59– 0.86) and anxiety (aOR=0.79, 95% CI 0.66– 0.94) were negatively associated with high DRF.Conclusion and Relevance: DRF was higher than pre-pandemic levels across four continents. DRF was associated with gender and parasomnias like nightmares and RBD symptoms, sleep maintenance problems, PTSD symptoms and negatively associated with depression and anxiety. The results implicate that COVID-19 is reflected in our dreams as an expression of the emotional intensity of the pandemic.Keywords: sleep, sleep disorder, mental health, parasomnia, collective threat

Background Epilepsy is common in people with intellectual disability, yet clinicians and researchers seldom obtain information directly from the client. The development and preliminary validation of a novel measure for use with people with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities is described.Methods Focus group methods (6 groups; 24 participants) identified issues of concern, and qualitative analysis (NUD*IST) was applied to derive items and themes for a draft scale. Psychometric scale development techniques were then used in a pilot study and subsequent field-testing to investigate validity and reliability (n = 46).Results A total of 148 issues of concern was reduced initially to 52 and then to 42 items using these methods. The derived scale comprised sub-scales reflecting (1) concerns about having seizures; (2) about injury; (3) about issues during; and (4) after seizures; (5) about medication; (6) about what people think; and (7) about daily life. Cronbach alpha for the Glasgow Epilepsy Outcome Scale - Client version (GEOS-C) was 0.92, and ranged from 0.64-0.81 for the sub-scales. Relatively weak associations (r >or= 0.40), between client and family carer, staff carer or clinician views, suggests that proxy reports are not good predictors of how people with epilepsy themselves are feeling. Preliminary validation suggests that the GEOS-C can discriminate on variables of clinical importance.Conclusions The GEOS-C complements existing GEOS measures, can be completed in 5-15 min depending upon the level of support required, and may provide a valuable clinical and research tool. Further validational work and appraisal of sensitivity are required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Preliminary data suggests that obesity might hasten the decline in mRNA vaccine-induced immunity against SARS-CoV-2. However, whether this renders individuals with obesity more susceptible to long COVID symptoms post-vaccination remains uncertain. Given sleep's critical role in immunity, exploring the associations between obesity, probable long COVID symptoms, and sleep disturbances is essential., Methods: We analyzed data from a survey of 5919 adults aged 18 to 89, all of whom received two SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccinations. Participants were categorized into normal weight, overweight, and obesity groups based on ethnicity-specific BMI cutoffs. The probability of long COVID was evaluated using the Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC) score, as our survey did not permit confirmation of acute SARS-CoV-2 infection through methods such as antibody testing. Additionally, sleep patterns were assessed through questionnaires., Results: Participants with obesity exhibited a significantly higher adjusted odds ratio (OR) of having a PASC score of 12 or higher, indicative of probable long COVID in our study, compared to those with normal weight (OR: 1.55, 95% CI: 1.05, 2.28). No significant difference was observed for overweight individuals (OR: 0.92 [95% CI: 0.63, 1.33]). Both obesity and probable long COVID were associated with increased odds of experiencing a heightened sleep burden, such as the presence of obstructive sleep apnea or insomnia (P < 0.001). However, no significant interaction between BMI and probable long COVID status was found., Conclusions: Even post-vaccination, individuals with obesity may encounter a heightened risk of experiencing prolonged COVID-19 symptoms. However, confirming our observations necessitates comprehensive studies incorporating rigorous COVID infection testing, such as antibody assays - unavailable in our anonymous survey. Additionally, it is noteworthy that the correlation between probable long COVID and sleep disturbances appears to be independent of BMI., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Insomnia is a highly prevalent sleep disorder. It is the most frequent sleep complaint among Higher Education students. The Sleep Condition Indicator is a self-report tool aimed at assessing insomnia based on the DSM-5 criteria. The principal goal of this study was to establish preliminary psychometric properties of the European Portuguese version of the Sleep Condition Indicator in a sample of Higher Education students. Data from a diverse pool of Higher Education students (N = 537) were collected online over a month. Most participants were women (75%) and aged approximately 27 years. The Sleep Condition Indicator demonstrated good internal consistency (α = 0.85), with all the items accounting significantly for the scale reliability. The most appropriate factor structure considering the ordinal nature of the items was unidimensional, with all items explaining 64% of the total variance. However, a two-factor structure (sleep pattern and sleep-related impact) was also plausible when other statistical estimators were used. The Sleep Condition Indicator correlated significantly with insomnia severity, vulnerability to stress-related sleep disturbance, and self-reported daytime sleepiness. The optimal cut-off point established based on the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was ≤ 16. A short version comprising only two items was also viable as suggested by the literature. The Sleep Condition Indicator is a reliable and valid tool for screening for insomnia. More studies with other groups are now required, specifically with clinical samples., (© 2024 European Sleep Research Society.)

Experimental studies suggest that short or disrupted sleep impairs memory consolidation, mood, and perception of emotional stimuli. However, studies have chiefly relied on laboratory-based study designs and small sample sizes. The aim of this fully online and pre-registered study was to investigate the association between sleep and overnight memory consolidation, emotion perception, and affect in a large, self-selected UK sample. A total of 1646 participants (473 completed) took part in an online study, where they completed a declarative (word-pairs) memory task, emotion perception task (valence ratings of images), and rated their affect within 2 h of bed-time. The following morning, participants reported on their state affect, sleep for the previous night, completed a cued recall task for the previously presented word-pairs, rated the valence of previously viewed images, and completed a surprise recognition task. Demographic data and habitual sleep quality and duration (sleep traits) were also recorded. Habitual sleep traits were associated with immediate recall for the word-pairs task, while self-reported sleep parameters for the specific night were not associated with overnight memory consolidation. Neither habitual sleep traits, nor nightly sleep parameters were associated with unpleasantness ratings to negative stimuli or overnight habituation. Habitual poor sleep was associated with less positive and more negative affect, and morning affect was predicted by the specific night's sleep. This study suggests that overnight emotional processing and declarative memory may not be associated with self-reported sleep across individuals. More work is needed to understand how findings from laboratory-based studies extrapolate to real-world samples and contexts., (© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Sleep Research published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Sleep Research Society.)

Background: Insomnia is a prevalent and distressing sleep disorder. Multicomponent cognitive-behavioural therapy is the recommended first-line treatment, but access remains extremely limited, particularly in primary care where insomnia is managed. One principal component of cognitive-behavioural therapy is a behavioural treatment called sleep restriction therapy, which could potentially be delivered as a brief single-component intervention by generalists in primary care., Objectives: The primary objective of the Health-professional Administered Brief Insomnia Therapy trial was to establish whether nurse-delivered sleep restriction therapy in primary care improves insomnia relative to sleep hygiene. Secondary objectives were to establish whether nurse-delivered sleep restriction therapy was cost-effective, and to undertake a process evaluation to understand intervention delivery, fidelity and acceptability., Design: Pragmatic, multicentre, individually randomised, parallel-group, superiority trial with embedded process evaluation., Setting: National Health Service general practice in three regions of England., Participants: Adults aged ≥ 18 years with insomnia disorder were randomised using a validated web-based randomisation programme., Interventions: Participants in the intervention group were offered a brief four-session nurse-delivered behavioural treatment involving two in-person sessions and two by phone. Participants were supported to follow a prescribed sleep schedule with the aim of restricting and standardising time in bed. Participants were also provided with a sleep hygiene leaflet. The control group received the same sleep hygiene leaflet by e-mail or post. There was no restriction on usual care., Main Outcome Measures: Outcomes were assessed at 3, 6 and 12 months. Participants were included in the primary analysis if they contributed at least one post-randomisation outcome. The primary end point was self-reported insomnia severity with the Insomnia Severity Index at 6 months. Secondary outcomes were health-related and sleep-related quality of life, depressive symptoms, work productivity and activity impairment, self-reported and actigraphy-defined sleep, and hypnotic medication use. Cost-effectiveness was evaluated using the incremental cost per quality-adjusted life-year. For the process evaluation, semistructured interviews were carried out with participants, nurses and practice managers or general practitioners. Due to the nature of the intervention, both participants and nurses were aware of group allocation., Results: We recruited 642 participants ( n  = 321 for sleep restriction therapy; n  = 321 for sleep hygiene) between 29 August 2018 and 23 March 2020. Five hundred and eighty participants (90.3%) provided data at a minimum of one follow-up time point; 257 (80.1%) participants in the sleep restriction therapy arm and 291 (90.7%) participants in the sleep hygiene arm provided primary outcome data at 6 months. The estimated adjusted mean difference on the Insomnia Severity Index was -3.05 (95% confidence interval -3.83 to -2.28; p  < 0.001, Cohen's d  = -0.74), indicating that participants in the sleep restriction therapy arm [mean (standard deviation) Insomnia Severity Index = 10.9 (5.5)] reported lower insomnia severity compared to sleep hygiene [mean (standard deviation) Insomnia Severity Index = 13.9 (5.2)]. Large treatment effects were also found at 3 ( d  = -0.95) and 12 months ( d  = -0.72). Superiority of sleep restriction therapy over sleep hygiene was evident at 3, 6 and 12 months for self-reported sleep, mental health-related quality of life, depressive symptoms, work productivity impairment and sleep-related quality of life. Eight participants in each group experienced serious adverse events but none were judged to be related to the intervention. The incremental cost per quality-adjusted life-year gained was £2075.71, giving a 95.3% probability that the intervention is cost-effective at a cost-effectiveness threshold of £20,000. The process evaluation found that sleep restriction therapy was acceptable to both nurses and patients, and delivered with high fidelity., Limitations: While we recruited a clinical sample, 97% were of white ethnic background and 50% had a university degree, which may limit generalisability to the insomnia population in England., Conclusions: Brief nurse-delivered sleep restriction therapy in primary care is clinically effective for insomnia disorder, safe, and likely to be cost-effective., Future Work: Future work should examine the place of sleep restriction therapy in the insomnia treatment pathway, assess generalisability across diverse primary care patients with insomnia, and consider additional methods to enhance patient engagement with treatment., Trial Registration: This trial is registered as ISRCTN42499563., Funding: The award was funded by the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme (NIHR award ref: 16/84/01) and is published in full in Health Technology Assessment ; Vol. 28, No. 36. See the NIHR Funding and Awards website for further award information.

Background and Objectives: Restless legs syndrome (RLS) has been associated with anxiety, depression, insomnia, lifestyle factors and infections. We aimed to study the prevalence of symptoms of RLS during the COVID-19 pandemic versus pre-pandemic. We hypothesized that pre-existing RLS symptoms worsened and pandemic-related factors may have triggered new symptoms of RLS., Methods: Adults (≥18 years) from fifteen countries across four continents participated in an online survey between May and August 2020. The harmonized questionnaire included a validated single question on RLS with response alternatives from 1 to 5 on a scale from never to every/almost every evening or night. Other measures were the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), measures of symptoms of anxiety (GAD-2) and depression (PHQ-2), and questions on different pandemic-related factors., Results: Altogether, 17 846 subjects (63.8 % women) were included in the final analyses. The mean age was 41.4 years (SD 16.1). During the pandemic, symptoms of RLS (≥3 evenings/nights per week) were more common 9.1 % (95 % CI 8.7-10.1) compared to 5.4 % (95 % CI 4.9-6.0) before the pandemic (P < 0.0001). Alltogether 1.3 % (95 % CI 1.1-1.6) respondents had new-onset symptoms (≥3 evenings/nights per week). Moderate-severe insomnia was strongly associated with RLS symptoms. The occurrences of new-onset RLS symptoms were 5.6 % (95 % CI 0.9-13.0) for participants reporting COVID-19 and 1.1 % (95 % CI 0.7-1.5) for non-COVID-19 participants. In the fully adjusted logistic regression model, the occurrence of new-onset RLS symptoms was associated with younger age, social restrictions and insomnia severity. In a similar analysis, RLS symptoms (≥3 evenings/nights per week) were associated with lower education, financial hardship, sleep apnea symptoms, use of hypnotics, insomnia severity, symptoms of depression and possible post-traumatic stress disorder., Discussion: Our findings indicate that RLS symptoms were more common during the pandemic than before. Usually, the prevalence of RLS increases with age. However, during the pandemic, new-onset symptoms of RLS were more common in younger age groups. This may be due to the pandemic-related factors being more pronounced in the younger compared to the older. The association between insomnia, psychiatric symptoms and RLS warrants clinical attention., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Markku Partinen reports financial support was provided by Signe and Ane Gyllenberg Foundation. Other from Takeda, personal fees and other from MSD, personal fees and other from Orion, personal fees and other from Umecrine, personal fees from Lundbeck, Other from Teva, outside the submitted work. Ilona Merikanto reports financial support was provided by Signe and Ane Gyllenberg Foundation. Courtney J. Bolstad reports financial support was provided by South Texas Veterans Healthcare System. Yuichi Inoue reports personal fees and other from Astellas Pharma, personal fees from Eisai, other from Idorsia Pharmaceuticals Japan, grants from Koike Medical, personal fees from Otsuka Pharmaceutical, grants from Philips Japan, outside the submitted work. Frances Chung – Dr. Chung reports grants from Ontario Ministry of Health Innovation Grant, grants from University Health NetworkFoundation, personal fees from Masimo Inc and Takeda Pharma, outside the submitted work; In addition, University Health Network has a patent STOP-Bang questionnaire pending. Thomas Penzel – Dr. Penzel reports personal fees from Jazz Pharmaceuticals, personal fees from Bayer Healthcare, personal fees from Neuwirth, personal fees from Löwenstein Medical, outside the submitted work; and Shareholder of The Siestagroup GmbH, Advanced Sleep Research GmbH, Nukute. Giuseppe Plazzi – Dr. Plazzi reports personal fees from UCB pharma, personal fees from Jazz pharmaceuticals, personal fees from Bioprojet, personal fees from Idorsia, personal fees from Takeda, outside the submitted work. YK Wing – personal fees from Eisai Co, Ltd, for delivering a lecture and sponsorship from Lundbeck HK Ltd and Aculys Pharma, Japan, outside the submitted work. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: Insomnia and eveningness are common and often comorbid conditions in youths. While cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) has been suggested as a promising intervention, it remains unclear whether it is sufficient to also address circadian issues in youths. In addition, despite that light has been shown to be effective in phase-shifting one's circadian rhythm, there has been limited data on the effects of bright light therapy and its combination with CBT-I on sleep and circadian outcomes in youths. The current protocol outlines a randomised controlled trial that examines the efficacy of CBT-I and CBT-I plus bright light therapy (BLT) in reducing insomnia severity, improving mood symptoms and daytime functioning (e.g. sleepiness, fatigue, cognitive function), and improving subjective and objective sleep and circadian measures compared to a waitlist control group., Methods: We will carry out a randomised controlled trial (RCT) with 150 youths aged 12-24 who meet the criteria of insomnia and eveningness. Participants will be randomised into one of three groups: CBT-I with bright light therapy, CBT-I with placebo light, and waitlist control. Six sessions of CBT-I will be delivered in a group format, while participants will be currently asked to use a portable light device for 30 min daily immediately after awakening throughout the intervention period for bright light therapy. The CBT-I with light therapy group will receive bright constant green light (506 lx) while the CBT-I with placebo light group will receive the modified light device with the LEDs emitting less than 10 lx. All participants will be assessed at baseline and post-treatment, while the two active treatment groups will be additionally followed up at 1 month and 6 months post-intervention. The primary outcome will be insomnia severity, as measured by the Insomnia Severity Index. Secondary outcomes include self-reported mood, circadian, daytime functioning, and quality of life measures, as well as sleep parameters derived from actigraphy and sleep diary and neurocognitive assessments. Objective measures of the circadian phase using dim-light melatonin onset assessment and sleep parameters using polysomnography will also be included as the secondary outcomes., Discussion: This study will be the first RCT to directly compare the effects of CBT-I and BLT in youths with insomnia and eveningness. Findings from the study will provide evidence to inform the clinical management of insomnia problems and eveningness in youths., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04256915. Registered on 5 February 2020., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Insomnia disorder is characterized by disruption in sleep continuity and an overall dissatisfaction with sleep. A relevant feature of insomnia is sleep effort, which refers to both cognitive and behavioural conscious attempts to initiate sleep. The Glasgow Sleep Effort Scale is a self-report tool developed to assess this construct. The objective of the current scoping review was to map how sleep effort has been discussed in the literature and operationalized through its respective measure. Medline/PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and PsycInfo databases were used to search for potential studies. The search query used in databases was the specific name of the self-reported tool itself (Glasgow Sleep Effort Scale) and "sleep effort" term. This scoping review followed JBI guidelines. To be included, records pertaining to any type of study that mentioned the Glasgow Sleep Effort Scale were considered. No language constraint was used. At the end, 166 initial records were retrieved. From those, 46 records met eligibility criteria and were analysed. Among the main findings, it was observed that the Glasgow Sleep Effort Scale has been increasingly used in recent years, with a notable observed upward trend, especially in the last 2 years. In addition to the original measure, only three published adapted versions of the instrument were identified. This suggests that there is limited research on adapting the scale for different populations or contexts. Sleep effort has been increasingly studied in the last few years. Nonetheless, more research on the Glasgow Sleep Effort Scale tool is recommended, including cross-cultural adaptations., (© 2024 The Authors. Journal of Sleep Research published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Sleep Research Society.)

Stroke is frequently accompanied by long-term sleep disruption. We therefore aimed to assess the efficacy of digital cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia to improve sleep after stroke. A parallel group randomised controlled trial was conducted remotely in participant's homes/online. Randomisation was online with minimisation of between-group differences in age and baseline Sleep Condition Indicator-8 score. In total, 86 community-dwelling stroke survivors consented, of whom 84 completed baseline assessments (39 female, mean 5.5 years post-stroke, mean 59 years old), and were randomised to digital cognitive behavioural therapy or control (sleep hygiene information). Follow-up was at post-intervention (mean 75 days after baseline) and 8 weeks later. The primary outcome was self-reported insomnia symptoms, as per the Sleep Condition Indicator-8 (range 0-32, lower numbers indicate more severe insomnia, reliable change 7 points) at post-intervention. There were significant improvements in Sleep Condition Indicator-8 for digital cognitive behavioural therapy compared with control (intention-to-treat, digital cognitive behavioural therapy n = 48, control n = 36, 5 imputed datasets, effect of group p ≤ 0.02, η p 2  = 0.07-0.12 [medium size effect], pooled mean difference = -3.35). Additionally, secondary outcomes showed shorter self-reported sleep-onset latencies and better mood for the digital cognitive behavioural therapy group, but no significant differences for self-efficacy, quality of life or actigraphy-derived sleep parameters. Cost-effectiveness analysis found that digital cognitive behavioural therapy dominates over control (non-significant cost savings and higher quality-adjusted life years). No related serious adverse events were reported to the researchers. Overall, digital cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia effectively improves sleep after stroke. Future research is needed to assess earlier stages post-stroke, with a longer follow-up period to determine whether it should be included as part of routine post-stroke care. Clinicaltrials.gov NCT04272892., (© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Sleep Research published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Sleep Research Society.)

Sleep restriction therapy is a behavioural component within cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia and is an effective standalone treatment for insomnia, but its effect on depressive symptoms remains unclear. This review aimed to synthesise and evaluate the impact of single-component sleep restriction therapy on depressive symptoms relative to a control intervention. We searched electronic databases and sleep-related journals for randomised controlled trials and uncontrolled clinical trials, published from 1 January 1986 until 19 August 2023, that delivered sleep restriction therapy to adults with insomnia. Random-effects meta-analysis of standardised mean differences and Cochrane risk of bias assessment were performed on randomised controlled trials, while uncontrolled clinical trials were discussed narratively. The meta-analysis was pre-registered on PROSPERO (ID: CRD42020191803). We identified seven randomised controlled trials (N = 1102) and two uncontrolled clinical trials (N = 22). Findings suggest that sleep restriction therapy is associated with a medium effect for improvement in depressive symptoms at post-treatment (N c  = 6, g = -0.45 [95% confidence interval = -0.70 to -0.21], p < 0.001) and a small effect at follow-up (N c  = 4, g = -0.31 [95% confidence interval = -0.45 to -0.16], p < 0.001). Five of the seven included randomised controlled trials were judged to have a high risk of bias. Standalone sleep restriction therapy appears to be efficacious for improving depressive symptoms at post-treatment and follow-up. However, conclusions are tentative due to the small number of trials and because none of the trials was performed in a population with clinically defined depression. Large-scale trials are needed to test the effect of sleep restriction therapy in patients experiencing depression and insomnia. Findings also highlight the need to improve the standardisation and reporting of sleep restriction therapy procedures, and to design studies with more rigorous control arms to reduce potential bias., (© 2024 The Authors. Journal of Sleep Research published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Sleep Research Society.)

The association between nightmare frequency (NMF) and suicidal ideation (SI) is well known, yet the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on this relation is inconsistent. This study aimed to investigate changes in NMF, SI, and their association during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected in 16 countries using a harmonised questionnaire. The sample included 9328 individuals (4848 women; age M[SD] = 46.85 [17.75] years), and 17.60% reported previous COVID-19. Overall, SI was significantly 2% lower during the pandemic vs. before, and this was consistent across genders and ages. Most countries/regions demonstrated decreases in SI during this pandemic, with Austria (-9.57%), Sweden (-6.18%), and Bulgaria (-5.14%) exhibiting significant declines in SI, but Italy (1.45%) and Portugal (2.45%) demonstrated non-significant increases. Suicidal ideation was more common in participants with long-COVID (21.10%) vs. short-COVID (12.40%), though SI did not vary by COVID-19 history. Nightmare frequency increased by 4.50% during the pandemic and was significantly higher in those with previous COVID-19 (14.50% vs. 10.70%), during infection (23.00% vs. 8.10%), and in those with long-COVID (18.00% vs. 8.50%). The relation between NMF and SI was not significantly stronger during the pandemic than prior (rs = 0.18 vs. 0.14; z = 2.80). Frequent nightmares during the pandemic increased the likelihood of reporting SI (OR = 1.57, 95% CI 1.20-2.05), while frequent dream recall during the pandemic served a protective effect (OR = 0.74, 95% CI 0.59-0.94). These findings have important implications for identifying those at risk of suicide and may offer a potential pathway for suicide prevention., (© 2024 European Sleep Research Society.)

Rapid eye movement sleep fragmentation is hypothesised to be a reliable feature of insomnia, which may contribute to emotion dysregulation. Sleep restriction therapy, an effective intervention for insomnia, has the potential to reduce rapid eye movement sleep fragmentation through its manipulation of basic sleep-wake processes. We performed secondary data analysis of a randomised controlled trial to examine whether sleep restriction therapy reduces rapid eye movement sleep fragmentation in comparison to a matched control arm. Participants (n = 56; 39 female, mean age = 40.78 ± 9.08 years) were randomly allocated to 4 weeks of sleep restriction therapy or 4 weeks of time in bed regularisation. Ambulatory polysomnographic recordings were performed at baseline, week 1 and week 4. Arousals during rapid eye movement and non-rapid eye movement sleep were scored blind to group allocation. The following rapid eye movement sleep fragmentation index was the primary outcome: index 1 = (rapid eye movement arousals + rapid eye movement awakenings + non-rapid eye movement intrusions)/rapid eye movement duration in hours. Secondary outcomes were two further indices of rapid eye movement sleep fragmentation: index 2 = (rapid eye movement arousals + rapid eye movement awakenings)/rapid eye movement duration in hours; and index 3 = rapid eye movement arousals/rapid eye movement duration in hours. A non-rapid eye movement fragmentation index was also calculated (non-rapid eye movement arousals/non-rapid eye movement duration in hours). Linear-mixed models were fitted to assess between-group differences. There was no significant group difference for the primary rapid eye movement fragmentation index at week 1 (p = 0.097, d = -0.31) or week 4 (p = 0.741, d = -0.06). There was some indication that secondary indices of rapid eye movement fragmentation decreased more in the sleep restriction therapy group relative to control at week 1 (index 2: p = 0.023, d = -0.46; index 3: p = 0.051, d = -0.39), but not at week 4 (d ≤ 0.13). No group effects were found for arousals during non-rapid eye movement sleep. We did not find clear evidence that sleep restriction therapy modifies rapid eye movement sleep fragmentation. Small-to-medium effect sizes in the hypothesised direction, across several indices of rapid eye movement fragmentation during early treatment, demand further investigation in future studies., (© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Sleep Research published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Sleep Research Society.)

Background: Sleep restriction therapy (SRT) is a behavioural therapy for insomnia., Aim: To conduct a process evaluation of a randomised controlled trial comparing SRT delivered by primary care nurses plus a sleep hygiene booklet with the sleep hygiene booklet only for adults with insomnia disorder., Design and Setting: A mixed-methods process evaluation in a general practice setting., Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted in a purposive sample of patients receiving SRT, the practice nurses who delivered the therapy, and also GPs or practice managers at the participating practices. Qualitative data were explored using framework analysis, and integrated with nurse comments and quantitative data, including baseline Insomnia Severity Index score and serial sleep efficiency outcomes to investigate the relationships between these., Results: In total, 16 patients, 13 nurses, six practice managers, and one GP were interviewed. Patients had no previous experience of behavioural therapy, needed flexible appointment times, and preferred face-to-face consultations; nurses felt prepared to deliver SRT, accommodating patient concerns, tailoring therapy, and negotiating sleep timings despite treatment complexity and delays between training and intervention delivery. How the intervention produced change was explored, including patient and nurse interactions and patient responses to SRT. Difficulties maintaining SRT, negative attitudes towards treatment, and low self-efficacy were highlighted. Contextual factors, including freeing GP time, time constraints, and conflicting priorities for nurses, with suggestions for alternative delivery options, were raised. Participants who found SRT a positive process showed improvements in sleep efficiency, whereas those who struggled did not., Conclusion: SRT was successfully delivered by practice nurses and was generally well received by patients, despite some difficulties delivering and applying the intervention in practice., (© The Authors.)

Objective: There is evidence of a strong association between insomnia and COVID-19, yet few studies have examined the relationship between insomnia and long COVID. This study aimed to investigate whether COVID-19 patients with pre-pandemic insomnia have a greater risk of developing long COVID and whether long COVID is in turn associated with higher incident rates of insomnia symptoms after infection., Methods: Data were collected cross-sectionally (May-Dec 2021) as part of an international collaborative study involving participants from 16 countries. A total of 2311 participants (18-99 years old) with COVID-19 provided valid responses to a web-based survey about sleep, insomnia, and health-related variables. Log-binomial regression was used to assess bidirectional associations between insomnia and long COVID. Analyses were adjusted for age, sex, and health conditions, including sleep apnea, attention and memory problems, chronic fatigue, depression, and anxiety., Results: COVID-19 patients with pre-pandemic insomnia showed a higher risk of developing long COVID than those without pre-pandemic insomnia (70.8% vs 51.4%; adjusted relative risk [RR]: 1.33, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.07-1.65). Among COVID-19 cases without pre-pandemic insomnia, the rates of incident insomnia symptoms after infection were 24.1% for short COVID cases and 60.6% for long COVID cases (p < .001). Compared with short COVID cases, long COVID cases were associated with an increased risk of developing insomnia symptoms (adjusted RR: 2.00; 95% CI: 1.50-2.66)., Conclusions: The findings support a bidirectional relationship between insomnia and long COVID. These findings highlight the importance of addressing sleep and insomnia in the prevention and management of long COVID., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest Authors declare none., (Crown Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is the recommended first-line treatment for insomnia. However, guideline care is very seldom available and most patients receive no treatment, or less effective second-line pharmacotherapy or sleep hygiene, neither of which are evidence-based for chronic insomnia. The primary challenge for CBT has been supply. There are not enough therapists to meet the enormous demand. We must accelerate clinician training, but this approach can never be sufficient, even with abbreviated, efficient therapies. Fortunately, however, the treatment landscape has also changed dramatically. Fully-automated digital CBT (dCBT) has emerged as a safe, effective, and scalable treatment delivery format. dCBT is software only, so it can be disseminated as readily and widely as sleep medication. Moreover, dCBT can be integrated into services. Just as medications can be delivered through health professionals and health systems, approved dCBT programmes can be the same. However, an ecosystem of psychologically-based care should not necessitate a medical prescription model. Our proposed stepped care framework, comprises both population health and clinical health service initiatives, enabling universal access to guideline care for insomnia. The diverse ways in which CBT may be delivered (in-person, face-to-face, using telehealth, group therapy, digitally) can operate congruently and efficiently to optimise treatment for people at all levels of complexity and need. With safe and clinically effective dCBT products now set to become established as treatments, clearly differentiated from wellness apps, there is potential to rapidly transform insomnia services and, for the first time, to deliver clinical guideline care at international scale., (© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Sleep Research published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Sleep Research Society.)

Despite cognitive behaviour therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) being the first-line intervention for the disorder, it is often not readily available to patients in need. The stepped care model (SCM) represents an approach to facilitating efficient and wide-ranging provision of evidence-based care to those with insomnia. The SCM reflects a pyramid of therapeutics based on CBT-I gradually increasing in clinical intensity and addressing clinical complexity. By applying CBT-I through the SCM it is hoped that the treatment gap can be bridged such that not only more patients can be reached, but that clinical resource can be more effectively distributed, with patients receiving more tailored care as needed. Nevertheless, this should not be done at the risk of a lower quality of care being offered, and high-standard training for clinicians and scrutiny of non-clinician led interventions remains important. As national health laws within European countries have substantial differences, the application of the SCM as it relates to the treatment of insomnia may be challenged by contrasting interpretations. In order that the SCM is appropriately implemented: (a) only evidence-based CBT-I treatments should be promoted within the model; (b) clinicians involved in SCM should be suitably qualified to offer CBT in general, and have appropriate further training in CBT-I; (c) professionals involved in interventions not included in the SCM, but related to it, such as preventive and educational programmes, diagnostic procedures, and pharmacological treatments, should also have good knowledge of the SCM in order to promote correct allocation to the appropriate interventional step., (© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Sleep Research published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Sleep Research Society.)

Sleep is a biological imperative, so one might wonder "what has psychology got to do with it?" A person's behaviours, thoughts, emotions and interactions with the environment inevitably serve for good, or for ill, as the "setting conditions" for the expression of sleep. Put simply, although sleep is not a psychological phenomenon, sleep has crucial behavioural dependencies. Consequently, the Psychobiological Inhibition Model can embrace numerous, potentially interacting, pathways to the persistence of this ubiquitous disorder, providing an overarching conceptual framework for why and how insomnia develops. The clinical guideline treatment for chronic insomnia is cognitive behavioural therapy. Although typically delivered as "talking therapy", cognitive behavioural therapy is not some form of "psychobabble". Rather, the Psychobiological Inhibition Model framework for insomnia articulates how specific techniques can correct the various ways in which the expression of normal sleep and circadian brain-behaviour relationships have become disrupted. Indeed, cognitive behavioural therapy is best conceived of as an approach to treatment rather than being one specific agent. A shift in emphasis towards a cognitive and behavioural therapeutics formulary would provide improved impetus to understanding of how insomnia develops, and of how it may best be treated in any given patient., (© 2023 The Author. Journal of Sleep Research published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Sleep Research Society.)

Progress in the field of insomnia since 2017 necessitated this update of the European Insomnia Guideline. Recommendations for the diagnostic procedure for insomnia and its comorbidities are: clinical interview (encompassing sleep and medical history); the use of sleep questionnaires and diaries (and physical examination and additional measures where indicated) (A). Actigraphy is not recommended for the routine evaluation of insomnia (C), but may be useful for differential-diagnostic purposes (A). Polysomnography should be used to evaluate other sleep disorders if suspected (i.e. periodic limb movement disorder, sleep-related breathing disorders, etc.), treatment-resistant insomnia (A) and for other indications (B). Cognitive-behavioural therapy for insomnia is recommended as the first-line treatment for chronic insomnia in adults of any age (including patients with comorbidities), either applied in-person or digitally (A). When cognitive-behavioural therapy for insomnia is not sufficiently effective, a pharmacological intervention can be offered (A). Benzodiazepines (A), benzodiazepine receptor agonists (A), daridorexant (A) and low-dose sedating antidepressants (B) can be used for the short-term treatment of insomnia (≤ 4 weeks). Longer-term treatment with these substances may be initiated in some cases, considering advantages and disadvantages (B). Orexin receptor antagonists can be used for periods of up to 3 months or longer in some cases (A). Prolonged-release melatonin can be used for up to 3 months in patients ≥ 55 years (B). Antihistaminergic drugs, antipsychotics, fast-release melatonin, ramelteon and phytotherapeutics are not recommended for insomnia treatment (A). Light therapy and exercise interventions may be useful as adjunct therapies to cognitive-behavioural therapy for insomnia (B)., (© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Sleep Research published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Sleep Research Society.)

Background: Self-rated health (SRH) is widely recognized as a clinically significant predictor of subsequent mortality risk. Although COVID-19 may impair SRH, this relationship has not been extensively examined. The present study aimed to examine the correlation between habitual sleep duration, changes in sleep duration after infection, and SRH in subjects who have experienced SARS-CoV-2 infection., Methods: Participants from 16 countries participated in the International COVID Sleep Study-II (ICOSS-II) online survey in 2021. A total of 10,794 of these participants were included in the analysis, including 1,509 COVID-19 individuals (who reported that they had tested positive for COVID-19). SRH was evaluated using a 0-100 linear visual analog scale. Habitual sleep durations of < 6 h and > 9 h were defined as short and long habitual sleep duration, respectively. Changes in habitual sleep duration after infection of ≤ -2 h and ≥ 1 h were defined as decreased or increased, respectively., Results: Participants with COVID-19 had lower SRH scores than non-infected participants, and those with more severe COVID-19 had a tendency towards even lower SRH scores. In a multivariate regression analysis of participants who had experienced COVID-19, both decreased and increased habitual sleep duration after infection were significantly associated with lower SRH after controlling for sleep quality (β = -0.056 and -0.058, respectively, both p < 0.05); however, associations between current short or long habitual sleep duration and SRH were negligible. Multinomial logistic regression analysis showed that decreased habitual sleep duration was significantly related to increased fatigue (odds ratio [OR] = 1.824, p < 0.01), shortness of breath (OR = 1.725, p < 0.05), diarrhea/nausea/vomiting (OR = 2.636, p < 0.01), and hallucinations (OR = 5.091, p < 0.05), while increased habitual sleep duration was significantly related to increased fatigue (OR = 1.900, p < 0.01)., Conclusions: Changes in habitual sleep duration following SARS-CoV-2 infection were associated with lower SRH. Decreased or increased habitual sleep duration might have a bidirectional relation with post-COVID-19 symptoms. Further research is needed to better understand the mechanisms underlying these relationships for in order to improve SRH in individuals with COVID-19., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Background: Considerable comorbidity exists between insomnia and anxiety, and evidence shows that the benefits of CBT for insomnia extend to anxiety. Using data from two large trials of digital CBT (dCBT) for insomnia, we evaluated whether improving sleep is an effective treatment target to reduce both insomnia and anxiety symptoms in individuals with insomnia and clinically significant anxiety., Methods: This was a controlled sub-analysis combining individual participant data from two previous randomised controlled trials of dCBT for insomnia (Sleepio). Participants (N = 2172) with insomnia disorder and clinically significant anxiety symptoms were included in this sub-analysis and received either dCBT or control (usual care or sleep hygiene education). Assessments were evaluated at baseline, post-intervention (week 8 or 10), and follow-up (week 22 or 24). Mediation was evaluated using structural equation models., Results: dCBT for insomnia was superior to control at reducing both insomnia (Hedges' g range = 0.77-0.81; both p < 0.001) and anxiety symptoms (Hedges' g range = 0.39-0.44; both p < 0.001) at all time points. Baseline insomnia symptoms moderated the effects of dCBT on insomnia, however no variables moderated treatment effects on anxiety. Reductions in anxiety symptoms at follow-up were mediated by improvements in sleep at post-intervention (% mediated = 84 %), suggesting a causal pathway., Limitations: Participants did not have a formal anxiety disorder diagnosis and so the effects of dCBT for insomnia on anxiety may differ by anxiety disorder., Conclusions: Addressing sleep using dCBT for insomnia may serve as a treatment target from which to improve anxiety in individuals with insomnia and clinically significant comorbid anxiety., Clinical Trial Registrations: Digital Insomnia therapy to Assist your Life as well as your Sleep (DIALS) - ISRCTN60530898 http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN60530898. Oxford Access for Students Improving Sleep (OASIS) - ISRCTN61272251 http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN61272251., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no Competing Non-Financial Interests but the following Competing Financial Interests. ALH is employed by Big Health Ltd. (Sleepio), receives a salary and is a shareholder. CBM, is employed by Big Health Ltd. and is salaried by the company. CAE is the Co-Founder and Chief Scientist of Big Health Ltd. and is a shareholder, and is salaried by the company. BS offered clinical consultancy to Big Health Ltd. during the course of the OASIS trial. RE is a paid consultant of Big Health Ltd. AIL held a position at the University of Oxford funded by Big Health Inc. when the DIALS trial was being conducted. The digital CBT intervention was made available to all participants at no cost. No other investigators report conflicts of interest. Both original studies were conducted at the University of Oxford, Sleep & Circadian Neuroscience Institute and Department of Psychiatry., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Insomnia is prevalent and distressing but access to the first-line treatment, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), is extremely limited. We aimed to assess the clinical and cost-effectiveness of sleep restriction therapy, a key component of CBT, which has the potential to be widely implemented., Methods: We did a pragmatic, superiority, open-label, randomised controlled trial of sleep restriction therapy versus sleep hygiene. Adults with insomnia disorder were recruited from 35 general practices across England and randomly assigned (1:1) using a web-based randomisation programme to either four sessions of nurse-delivered sleep restriction therapy plus a sleep hygiene booklet or a sleep hygiene booklet only. There was no restriction on usual care for either group. Outcomes were assessed at 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months. The primary endpoint was self-reported insomnia severity at 6 months measured with the insomnia severity index (ISI). The primary analysis included participants according to their allocated group and who contributed at least one outcome measurement. Cost-effectiveness was evaluated from the UK National Health Service and personal social services perspective and expressed in terms of incremental cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained. The trial was prospectively registered (ISRCTN42499563)., Findings: Between Aug 29, 2018, and March 23, 2020 we randomly assigned 642 participants to sleep restriction therapy (n=321) or sleep hygiene (n=321). Mean age was 55·4 years (range 19-88), with 489 (76·2%) participants being female and 153 (23·8%) being male. 580 (90·3%) participants provided data for at least one outcome measurement. At 6 months, mean ISI score was 10·9 (SD 5·5) for sleep restriction therapy and 13·9 (5·2) for sleep hygiene (adjusted mean difference -3·05, 95% CI -3·83 to -2·28; p<0·0001; Cohen's d -0·74), indicating that participants in the sleep restriction therapy group reported lower insomnia severity than the sleep hygiene group. The incremental cost per QALY gained was £2076, giving a 95·3% probability that treatment was cost-effective at a cost-effectiveness threshold of £20 000. Eight participants in each group had serious adverse events, none of which were judged to be related to intervention., Interpretation: Brief nurse-delivered sleep restriction therapy in primary care reduces insomnia symptoms, is likely to be cost-effective, and has the potential to be widely implemented as a first-line treatment for insomnia disorder., Funding: The National Institute for Health and Care Research Health Technology Assessment Programme., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests CAE declares being cofounder of and shareholder in Big Health, outside the submitted work. LFM declares consultancy fees from Mementor DE, outside the submitted work. SDK declares non-financial support from Big Health in the form of no cost access to the digital sleep improvement programme, Sleepio, for use in clinical research, outside the submitted work. All other authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: Combining mindfulness with behavioral sleep strategies has been found to alleviate symptoms of insomnia and depression during pregnancy, but mechanisms for this treatment approach remain unclear. The present study examined nocturnal cognitive arousal and sleep effort as potential treatment mechanisms for alleviating insomnia and depression via a mindfulness sleep program for pregnant women., Methods: Secondary analysis from a proof-of-concept trial of 12 pregnant women with DSM-5 insomnia disorder who were treated with Perinatal Understanding of Mindful Awareness for Sleep (PUMAS), which places behavioral sleep strategies within a mindfulness framework. Data were collected across eight weekly assessments: pretreatment, six sessions, and posttreatment. Measures included the insomnia severity index (ISI), Edinburgh postnatal depression scale (EPDS), pre-sleep arousal scale's cognitive factor (PSASC), and the Glasgow sleep effort scale (GSES). We used linear mixed modeling to test cognitive arousal and sleep effort as concurrent and prospective predictors of insomnia and depression., Results: Most patients reported high cognitive arousal before PUMAS (75.0%), which decreased to 8.3% after treatment. All insomnia remitters reported low cognitive arousal after treatment, whereas half of nonremitters continued reporting high cognitive arousal. Both nocturnal cognitive arousal and sleep effort were associated with same-week changes in insomnia throughout treatment, and sleep effort yielded a prospective effect on insomnia. Lower levels of nocturnal cognitive arousal and sleep effort prospectively predicted reductions in depression., Conclusions: The present study offers preliminary evidence that reducing sleep effort and nocturnal cognitive arousal may serve as key mechanisms for alleviating insomnia and depression via mindfulness-based insomnia therapy. ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT04443959., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Sleep Research Society.)