# Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia in chronic traumatic brain injury

> **NIH VA I01** · VETERANS ADMIN PALO ALTO HEALTH CARE SYS · 2023 · —

## Abstract

This application is a joint submission of the War Related Illness and Injury Study Center (WRIISC), The
Polytrauma Network Site (PNS) and the VISN 21 Mental Illness Research, Educational and Clinical Center
(MIRECC) at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System. One of the major post-deployment health concerns that
the WRIISC & PNS are focusing on is Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). The VISN 21 MIRECC has a long research
history addressing sleep disorders in Veterans including several research projects on insomnia in Veterans. In
recent years over 650 VA mental health clinicians have been trained in CBT-I by the VISN 21 MIRECC. The
proposed collaboration between WRIISC, PNS and MIRECC will evaluate the efficacy of Cognitive Behavior
Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) in TBI Veterans with chronic insomnia in a randomized controlled trial. CBT-I
has been suggested to be a good alternative to pharmacological approaches in the treatment of TBI patients
with insomnia but evidence to support this claim is lacking.
This trial will compare CBT-I with a previously used manualized active control condition called “Credible
Control Therapy for Insomnia” (CCT-I) in mild TBI (mTBI) patients suffering from insomnia. Like many
previous control conditions in randomized controlled trials CCT-I includes a sleep hygiene component.
Our hypotheses will be tested in a randomized controlled clinical trial. The randomization will be stratified by
potential comorbidity of current Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and use of sleep medications. After
screening and randomization in the 2-week baseline phase, subjects will receive either CBT-I or CCT-I in the
6-week treatment phase. This 4-year proposal will include 120 mTBI patients (2 groups of n=60 each) with
relevant measures collected at baseline, week 8 after treatment and week 32 for follow-up. The primary
outcome will be the Insomnia Severity Index. The secondary outcome will be the SF 36-Item Health Survey.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10641741
- **Project number:** 5I01RX002319-06
- **Recipient organization:** VETERANS ADMIN PALO ALTO HEALTH CARE SYS
- **Principal Investigator:** Ansgar J. Furst
- **Activity code:** I01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** VA
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** —
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-02-01 → 2024-09-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10641741

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10641741, Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia in chronic traumatic brain injury (5I01RX002319-06). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10641741. Licensed CC0.

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