Effects of cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) on quality of life : A systematic review and meta-analysis

The effects of cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) have consistently been shown to improve insomnia symptoms and other health-related outcomes, but the effects on QoL have been inconsistent. Many factors including the type CBT-I delivery and type of instrument used to assess QoL make the topic complex. The present systematic review and meta-analysis synthesized the evidence of CBT-I efficacy on QoL outcomes across different populations, delivery modes, and methodological aspects. Following the guidelines on preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA), a literature search was conducted through PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and PsycINFO using keywords from relevant MeSH terms based on PICOS (Participants, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome and Study) criteria. Clinical trials investigating the effect of CBT-I as an intervention on QoL with any kind of control group were eligible if they reported mean scores and variation of QoL. Meta-analysis using a random-effect model was conducted to calculate the standardized mean differences (SMDs) in a set including all identified studies, as well as in three sub-sets: face-to-face CBT-I using randomized controlled trials (RCTs), online CBT-I using RCTs, and one-group pre- and post-treatment design. A total of 24 studies comprising 1977 participants (808 in an intervention group) from 12 countries were eligible for meta-analysis. The overall pooled estimate of SMD of QoL when all 24 studies were included was 0.47 (95% CI: 0.22; 0.72; I-2 = 84.5%; tau(2) = 0.31; p < 0.001). The overall pooled estimate of SMD of QoL was 0.46 (95% CI: 0.01-0.90; I-2 = 87.5%; tau(2) = 0.48, p < 0.001) for intervention groups with face-to-face CBT-I compared to controls; 0.47 (95% CI: 0.02-0.92; I-2 = 88.3%; tau(2) = 0.36; p = 0.04) for intervention groups with digital CBT-I compared to controls, and 0.46 (95% CI: 0.12-0.80; I-2 = 52.9%; tau(2) = 0.07; p = 0.08) for one-group pre- and post