LAUSR

Insomnia affects 10 to 20 percent of Americans annually. Unfortunately, evidence-based training on the diagnosis and management of insomnia during U.S. undergraduate medical education is limited. This educational gap may promote use of off-label medications or supplements (e.g., melatonin) and contribute to the “medicalization of sleeplessness”. By contrast, cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is the first-line recommendation of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the American College of Physicians, and CBT-I is increasingly available in a digital format that can even be prescribed by primary care providers. Most physicians are not trained in how CBT-I works, however, and thus are ill-equipped to prescribe or refer this service. Therefore, this pilot study evaluated a brief educational intervention to improve medical student knowledge about insomnia. The first author (AST) developed a 20-minute in-person lecture on insomnia which was delivered to 122 undergraduate medical students during their third-year medical curriculum. Topics included epidemiology, Spielman’s 3-P model of pathophysiology, and the treatment recommendations from the AASM with an emphasis on CBT-I. A total of 43 students (36%) provided informed consent and provided pre- and post-presentation ratings (0–100-point scale) of 1) their comfort in discussing insomnia with their patients, 2) the importance of insomnia for human health, 3) their familiarity with the pathophysiology of insomnia, and 4) their familiarity with treatments for insomnia. Participants were additionally asked to categorize a list of treatments as evidence-based or not. Following the presentation, students reported increased comfort in discussing insomnia with their patients, knowledge of the pathophysiology of insomnia, and knowledge of evidence-based treatments. In selecting treatments, more students chose CBT-I as an evidence-based treatment, while fewer students identified sleep hygiene, PAP therapy, diphenhydramine, hydroxyzine, melatonin, quetiapine, and trazodone. A brief lecture on insomnia improved medical students’ knowledge of the disease process and evidence-based treatments for insomnia. Forthcoming analyses will determine whether students utilized this knowledge during subsequent clerkships. Future work will examine whether alternative formats (e.g., flipped-class, case-based instruction, interactive modules) are more effective for conveying this information.