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Germany-wide study comparing online-supported therapy for sleep disorders and traditional face-to-face therapy will run in Freiburg until June 2025 / Last places available

Around ten percent of people in Germany are affected by chronic sleep disorders. The "iSleep well" project, funded by the German Research Foundation with more than two million euros, is helping to make the necessary therapy available to more people with sleep disorders with the help of online services. Under the leadership of researchers from the University Medical Center Freiburg and the University of Lüneburg, the equivalence of online therapy and traditional face-to-face treatment is being tested.

Low access to cognitive behavioral therapy

"Insomnia impairs the quality of life of those affected and increases the risk of mental illness in the long term," says Prof. Dr. Dr. Kai Spiegelhalder, Head of the Section for Psychiatric Sleep Research and Sleep Medicine at the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the University Medical Center Freiburg, who is leading the project together with Prof. Dr. Dirk Lehr from Leuphana University Lüneburg.

Clinical guidelines recommend cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) as the treatment of choice, but only around one percent of those affected receive this therapy. The majority of patients are treated with medication, which can lead to side effects. "That's why we want to investigate in the clinical study whether internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia is just as helpful as traditional CBT-I in the form of individual therapy in person," says Spiegelhalder.

The researchers have developed an online therapy program that contains the same content as classic CBT-I and conveys it in the form of short texts, videos and audios. Study participants are guided through the program by a therapist. "All participants in our study receive the therapy recommended by guidelines for the treatment of sleep disorders," says Spiegelhalder.

"iSleep well" is a multi-site study that is being conducted in cooperation between the University Medical Center Freiburg, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Lübeck University of Applied Sciences and the Technical University of Munich. Several clinics across Germany are also involved in the project. To date, almost 300 patients have already been treated with the guideline therapy as part of the large-scale study. In Freiburg, interested parties have the opportunity to register for the study until June.

Are you of legal age, do not work night shifts, have a computer with internet and a smartphone, do not suffer from any other sleep disorders or serious illnesses and are not currently undergoing psychotherapy? Further conditions of participation and study requirements will be checked in a preliminary telephone interview. Interested parties can contact us by e-mail at psy.isleep-well@uniklinik-freiburg.de. Further information on the study and participation can be found at www.isleep-well.de.