Long-term use of prescription drugs to treat insomnia has nothing to do with improving sleep quality

A study published in the online journal BMJ Open showed that long-term use of prescription drugs for insomnia does not seem to improve sleep disorders in middle-aged women

There was no difference in sleep quality and duration between people who took and did not take prescription drugs for 1-2 years, and the results of the study showed that disturbed sleep—difficulty falling asleep and/or staying asleep and getting up early—is very common

Poor sleep quality is related to unhealthy health, including diabetes, high blood pressure, pain and depression.

These include benzodiazepines, Z-including Zolpidem, Zaleplon, and espiclone drugs, and other drugs (off-label use) that are mainly used for other diseases, such as anxiety and depression

Clinical trial data shows that many of these drugs are effective in the short term (up to 6 months), but insomnia may be chronic.

Therefore, they hope to evaluate the effectiveness of long-term insomnia drugs for middle-aged women of different races suffering from sleep disorders

These women are part of the National Women’s Health Study (SWAN), a long-term multi-center study that focuses on the physical and psychological changes that occur during menopause

Sleep disorders are defined as difficulty falling asleep, waking up frequently, and waking up early, and are scored on a 5-point scale.

According to the sleep disorders measured by the rating scale, a comparison was made between women taking prescription drugs and not taking prescription drugs to improve sleep after 1 and 2 years

Approximately 238 women who started using medications to treat insomnia during the monitoring period were matched with 447 women who did not take these medications

Among the two groups of women, 1 out of 3 women had difficulty falling asleep every night, 2 out of 3 nights woke up frequently, and 1 out of every 3 nights during the week got up early

First, the sleep disorder scores of the two groups of women were similar

In contrast, the equivalent scores were 2.

One year later, the average scores of people taking prescription drugs were 2.

The one-year change was not statistically significant, and there was no difference between the two groups

This is an observational study, so the cause cannot be determined, only the correlation can be determined

Information about prescription drugs is also only collected during research visits every year or every two years, and there may be intermittent or non-use periods between visits, the researchers said
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There is also no objective measure of sleep quality
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However, the researchers concluded: "Sleep disorders are common and the prevalence is increasing
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Although the evidence from [randomized controlled trials] is relatively lacking, the use of sleep drugs has increased and they are often used for a long period of time, but They added that the findings of this study should allow clinicians and patients to stop and think about taking prescription drugs to treat middle-aged sleep disorders.

BMJ.
"Long term use of prescription meds for insomnia not linked to better quality sleep: No difference between those who did and didn't take these drugs for 1-2 years.
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