Eszopiclone in Patients With Insomnia During Perimenopause and Early Postmenopause: A Randomized Controlled Trial

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate eszopiclone 3 mg for treatment of insomnia in perimenopausal and early postmenopausal women, as well as the impact of insomnia treatment on mood, menopause-related symptoms, and quality of life. METHODS: This was a double-blind, placebo-controlled study with 410 women (aged 40-60; perimenopausal or early postmenopausal) who reported insomnia defined as sleep latency of at least 45 minutes and total sleep time less than or equal to 6 hours per night for at least 3 nights per week over the previous month. Patients were randomly assigned to eszopiclone 3 mg or placebo nightly for 4 weeks. Sleep data were collected once a day. Physician global assessments of menopause, menopause-specific questionnaire, Greene Climacteric Scale, the Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale, and the Sheehan Disability Scale were collected at baseline and end of treatment. RESULTS: Patients receiving eszopiclone reported improvements in sleep induction, sleep maintenance, sleep duration, sleep quality, and next-day functioning relative to placebo (P<.05). Patients receiving eszopiclone reported fewer total awakenings and awakenings due to hot flushes (P<.05). Eszopiclone use led to greater improvement in Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale scores (P<.05) and physician global assessments of menopause scores (P<.001); total Greene Climacteric Scale score and the vasomotor and psychological sub-scores (P<.05); vasomotor and physical domains of the menopause-specific questionnaire (P<.05); and family life/home domain of the Sheehan Disability Scale (P<.05). CONCLUSION: In this study, eszopiclone provided significant improvements in sleep and positively impacted mood, quality of life, and menopause-related symptoms in perimenopausal and early postmenopausal women with insomnia. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov www.clinicaltrials.gov NCT00366093 LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: I.