TOPLINE:

Insomnia affected up to 91% of individuals with alcohol use disorder (AUD), with evidence suggesting a bidirectional relationship. An 8-week day therapy programme led to a reduction in insomnia severity from 9.09 to 5.22 points on the Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS) and a significant improvement in sleep quality.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers conducted a before-and-after case series involving 95 patients (32 women and 63 men) with AUD at an addiction therapy centre in northwestern Poland between January and December 2024.
• Participants underwent an 8-week integrative day therapy programme combining cognitive-behavioural therapy, humanistic therapy, and motivational interviewing.
• The therapeutic model focused on strengthening autonomy, maintaining abstinence, and modifying dysfunctional behavioural patterns and emotional regulation.
• Sleep was assessed before and after therapy using the AIS and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI).

TAKEAWAY:

• The mean AIS score decreased from 9.09 ± 5.22 points at baseline, representing clinically significant insomnia, to 5.22 ± 3.33 points after 8 weeks of therapy (P < .001), representing a reduction of more than 40%.
• The mean total PSQI score declined from 7.12 ± 3.99 points at baseline to 4.13 ± 3.33 points following the 8-week treatment (P < .001), representing a significant improvement in sleep quality.
• Participants showed significant improvements in subjective sleep quality and sleep latency, time, and efficiency (P < .001 for all).
• No significant differences were found in terms of the use of sleep medication (0.44 vs 0.30 points; P = .429) or the frequency of sleep disturbances (1.04 vs 1.00 points).

IN PRACTICE:

"The greatest improvements were observed in sleep latency, subjective sleep quality, and sleep efficiency, while the use of sleep-inductive drugs and the frequency of sleep disturbances did not change significantly," the authors wrote.

"These results support the need to include routine assessment of sleep quality and insomnia severity in addiction treatment in day hospitals, as improved sleep may be an important indicator of early recovery and treatment engagement," they added.

SOURCE:

This study was led by Wolińska Weronika, Pomeranian Medical University, Szczecin, Poland. It was published online on February 11, 2026, in the Journal of Clinical Medicine.

LIMITATIONS:

This study lacked a control group, making it impossible to separate the effects of therapy from abstinence, spontaneous recovery, or natural recovery during early remission. Results relied on patient self-reports rather than objective sleep measurements such as polysomnography or actigraphy. The homogeneous sample from a single centre limited the generalisation of the findings. Another limiting factor was the observation time of only 8 weeks, which prevented the assessment of long-term effects of the treatment.

DISCLOSURES:

This study did not receive any external funding. The authors declared having no conflicts of interest.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.