Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia May Improve Sleep and Pain in Crohn’s Disease: A Waitlist Control Pilot Trial

BACKGROUND: Poor sleep is common in Crohn's disease (CD), prospectively predicts worse disease course, and is often attributable to insomnia. Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is the recommended treatment for chronic insomnia disorder. CBT-I improves sleep and may improve pain intensity, pain interference, and inflammation. We sought to investigate whether CBT-I impacts these factors in patients with active CD. METHOD: We recruited patients with insomnia and mild-to-moderate CD symptoms from an inflammatory bowel disease center. Exclusion criteria were other sleep disorders, significant psychiatric concerns, and presence of other common influences on sleep. Participants completed baseline assessments of sleep, pain, and inflammation then were randomized to receive CBT-I immediately, or wait 12 weeks and then repeat the baseline assessment and complete CBT-I. Similar assessments occurred immediately post-CBT-I and 1 month later. CBT-I included sleep restriction, stimulus control, sleep hygiene, arousal reduction, and cognitive therapy. RESULTS: A total of 26 participants completed the study. In group × time analyses, CBT-I led to greater reductions in insomnia severity (P < .001) and wake after sleep onset (P = .02) than waitlist. In pre- to post-treatment analyses, participants reported significant improvements in subjective measures of sleep continuity, CD symptom severity, pain intensity, and pain interference. C-reactive protein trended toward improvement. DISCUSSION: This study provides preliminary evidence of efficacy of CBT-I in people with CD. CBT-I improved self-reported sleep and may improve pain and CD symptoms. The results highlight the importance of addressing sleep concerns in inflammatory bowel disease, particularly in people with persistent pain or fatigue. Future trials powered to detect changes in pain and inflammation are warranted.