Unclear Insomnia Concept in Randomized Controlled Trials and Systematic Reviews: A Meta-Epidemiological Study

Masahiro Banno (), Yasushi Tsujimoto, Kunihiro Kohmura, Eisuke Dohi, Shunsuke Taito, Hidehiro Someko and Yuki Kataoka
Additional contact information
Masahiro Banno: Department of Psychiatry, Seichiryo Hospital, Tsurumai 4-16-27, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-0064, Japan
Yasushi Tsujimoto: Scientific Research WorkS Peer Support Group (SRWS-PSG), Koraibashi, Chuo-ku, Osaka 541-0043, Japan
Kunihiro Kohmura: Department of Psychiatry, Seichiryo Hospital, Tsurumai 4-16-27, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-0064, Japan
Eisuke Dohi: Department of Mental Disorder Research, National Institute of Neuroscience, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Ogawahigashi-cho 4-1-1, Kodaira 187-8502, Japan
Shunsuke Taito: Scientific Research WorkS Peer Support Group (SRWS-PSG), Koraibashi, Chuo-ku, Osaka 541-0043, Japan
Hidehiro Someko: Scientific Research WorkS Peer Support Group (SRWS-PSG), Koraibashi, Chuo-ku, Osaka 541-0043, Japan
Yuki Kataoka: Scientific Research WorkS Peer Support Group (SRWS-PSG), Koraibashi, Chuo-ku, Osaka 541-0043, Japan

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 19, 1-10

Abstract: There are two possible ways to conceptualize the term “insomnia”: insomnia disorder and insomnia symptoms, which are often poorly reported. The purpose of this study was to examine the proportion of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and systematic reviews (SRs) that mention insomnia in their abstracts and cannot distinguish between insomnia disorder and insomnia symptoms from the abstract. We included RCT and SR articles that included the word “insomnia” in the methods or results sections of their structured abstracts, published after 2010. We searched PubMed using English language restrictions on 10 March 2022. From 1580 PubMed articles, we obtained 100 random samples each for eligible RCTs and SRs. The unclear insomnia concept accounted for 88% of the RCT abstracts and 94% of the SR abstracts. Among the RCT and SR abstracts with unclearness, the concept of insomnia was unclear in 27% of RCTs and 57% of SRs after investigating the full text. The concept of insomnia has been unclear in many RCTs and SRs abstracts. The authors of RCTs and SRs are recommended to state “insomnia disorder” or “insomnia symptoms” in the methods and results sections of their abstracts.

Keywords: insomnia; randomized controlled trials; systematic reviews; meta-epidemiological study (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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