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

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.