Assisted Relaxation Therapy for Insomnia in Older Adults With Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Pilot Study

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Glenna Brewster, Emory University; Miranda V McPhillips, University of Pennsylvania; Junxin Li, Johns Hopkins University; Darina V Petrovsky, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA; Glenna S Brewster, Emory University; E. John Ward, University of Pennsylvania; Nancy Hodgson, University of Pennsylvania; Nalaka S Gooneratne, University of Pennsylvania
• Language: English
• Date: 2022-10-18
• Publisher: SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: PubMed Central
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00914150221132163
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AGING & HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
• Volume: 97
• Issue: 1
• Start Page: 65
• End Page: 80
• Grant/Funding Information: Frank Morgan Jones Fund, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing Faculty Grant Award and National Institute of Nursing Research (K23NR018487).
• Keywords: AMERICAN ACADEMY; older adults; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; VALIDATION; Science & Technology; HEALTH; Social Sciences; EPWORTH SLEEPINESS SCALE; Geriatrics & Gerontology; behavioral intervention; Psychology; SEVERITY INDEX; Psychology, Developmental; insomnia; QUALITY INDEX; Gerontology; sleep; mild cognitive impairment
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Nursing; Health Sciences, Medicine and Surgery

Abstract

Insomnia symptoms are prevalent in older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and can pose treatment challenges. We tested the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of assisted relaxation therapy (ART) to improve insomnia symptoms in community-dwelling older adults with MCI. In this pilot RCT, 25 participants were assigned to intervention or control groups for 2 weeks. The final sample (n = 20) consisted of all Black, primarily female (70%) older adults (mean age 69.10; SD = 7.45) with mean Montreal Cognitive Assessment scores of 21.10 (SD = 2.49). Recruitment was timely; attrition was low (80%). Participants were able to use ART (average use 7.00; SD = 5.07 days). Participants in the ART group improved on Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) (− 7.10; 95% CI [−11.63, −2.55]; p =.004) compared to baseline. There were clinically meaningful mean change scores on ISI for the intervention group compared to the control (− 7.10 vs. − 4.33). Results provide justification for testing ART in a fully powered clinical trial.