Elderly patients with insomnia have a lower risk of developing depression when they receive CBT compared with sleep education, a randomised clinical trial suggests.

The US researchers say their findings support efforts to target risk factors such as insomnia “to maximise efficacy of depression prevention” in this vulnerable older adult population.

The trial included 291 patients (mean age 70) with insomnia who had no major health events or major depression within the previous year and were assigned to receive two months of CBT or sleep education therapy.

During a median three years’ follow-up, those who received CBT were 49% less likely to experience incident or recurrent major depression than participants in the sleep education group, the authors said.