A new study, published in JAMA Psychiatry, suggests that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is associated with a significant reduction in the risk of depression in patients with insomnia. 

The researchers noted that insomnia affects more than 50% of older adults, and is associated with a two times increased risk for major depression. A total of 291 patients, 60 years of age and older, with insomnia and no major depression within the past 12 months, were included in the study. All the participants were randomized to receive either CBT-I or sleep education therapy (SET).

Depression was noted in 12.2% of the participants in the CBT-I group and in 25.9% of those in the SET group. The hazard ratio (HR) for depression in the CBT-I group was 0.51, in comparison with the SET group. When the researchers adjusted for factors affecting depression risk, the HR for depression in the CBT-I group compared to the SET group was 0.45. The annual incidence of depression in the CBT-I group was 4.1%, which is comparable to the population rate, while it was 8.6% in the SET group… (Medscape)