Factors Associated with Long-Term Use of Hypnotics among Patients with Chronic Insomnia

This study investigated factors associated with long-term use of benzodiazepines (BZDs) or benzodiazepine receptor agonists (BzRAs) as hypnotics in patients with chronic insomnia. Consecutive patients (n = 140) with chronic insomnia were enrolled in this study (68 men and 72 women; mean age, 53.8±10.8 years). All patients filled out a self-assessment questionnaire asking clinical descriptive variables at the baseline of the treatment period; patients received the usual dose of a single type of BZD or BzRA. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale were self-assessed at the baseline, and the former was re-evaluated at the time of cessation of medication or at the end of the 6-month treatment period. The PSQI included the following sub-items: evaluating sleep quality (C1), sleep latency (C2), sleep duration (C3), habitual sleep efficiency (C4), frequency of sleep disturbance (C5), use of sleeping medication (C6), and daytime dysfunction (C7). Among the patients, 54.6% needed to continue hypnotics for a 6-month treatment period. Logistic regression analysis revealed that, among descriptive variables, only the PSQI score appeared as a significant factor associated with long-term use {odds ratio (OR) = 2.8, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 2.0–4.0}. The receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis identified that the cut-off PSQI total score at the baseline for predicting long-term use was estimated at 13.5 points (area under the curve = 0.86, 95% CI = 0.8–0.92). Among the sub-items of PSQI, the increases in C1: (OR = 8.4, 95% CI = 2.4–30.0), C3: (OR = 3.6, 95% CI = 1.1–11.5), C4: (OR = 11.1, 95% CI = 3.6–33.9), and C6: (OR = 3.4, 95% CI = 1.9–6.2) scores were associated with long-term use. This study revealed that a high PSQI score at the baseline, particularly in the sub-items relating to sleep maintenance disturbance, is predictive of long-term hypnotic treatment. Our results imply the limitation of the effectiveness of hypnotic treatment alone for chronic insomnia.