Discontinuation of Hypnotics in Older Veterans
Public ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT03511209. Field values are reproduced from the official study page; the official ClinicalTrials.gov record remains the source of truth for eligibility, enrollment, and contact information.
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Official title
The Efficacy of Masked Tapering on Discontinuation of Hypnotics in Older Veterans
Brief summary
Reproduced verbatim from the official ClinicalTrials.gov record. Not medical advice.
Sleeping medications, called hypnotics, are often prescribed for insomnia. About one-quarter of Veterans use hypnotics (or bedtime alcohol). Older patients who use hypnotics fall more often and have worse memory than those who do not use them. Stopping hypnotics often reverses these problems. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is trying to reduce hypnotic use among older adults. Currently, there are two main treatments to help patients stop using hypnotics. The first treatment involves a slow decrease in the daily dose until the hypnotic is ultimately discontinued. For safety, the process of decreasing the daily dose is usually supervised by a physician. The second is a treatment for insomnia called cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBTI). This study will compare a novel hypnotic tapering method to the usual tapering method offered to older Veterans. The purpose of the study is to determine if the novel tapering method is more effective than the usual tapering method, both in terms of hypnotic discontinuation and improvement in insomnia severity. Participants will be recruited from among Veterans 55 years and older who receive care from one VA Healthcare System. Following a baseline assessment, participants will be randomly assigned to one of the two 8-week treatment groups (66 participants per group). Each treatment group will receive CBTI, however, one group will receive the novel tapering program and the other group the usual tapering program. Follow-up assessments will be conducted at post-treatment and at 6-months after completion of the treatment. If the novel tapering program is effective, it will represent a treatment option that can be offered to older Veterans who want to discontinue hypnotics. This tapering program could help VA healthcare providers adhere to clinical guidelines that recommend benzodiazepine discontinuation among older adults. A reduction in chronic hypnotic use may in turn reduce the risk of falls and hip fractures, which ultimately may improve the health and quality of life of older Veterans who receive healthcare at the VA.
Study identification
- NCT ID
- NCT03511209
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Not applicable
- Enrollment
- 132 participants
Conditions and interventions
Conditions
Eligibility (public fields only)
- Age range
- 55 Years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Healthy volunteers not accepted
This page does not interpret eligibility. Detailed inclusion and exclusion criteria are on the official ClinicalTrials.gov record.
Study timeline
- Start date
- Dec 9, 2018
- Primary completion
- Nov 26, 2023
- Completion
- Nov 26, 2023
- Last update posted
- Nov 13, 2024
2018 – 2023
United States locations
- U.S. sites
- 1
- U.S. states
- 1
- U.S. cities
- 1
| Facility | City | State | ZIP | Site status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, West Los Angeles, CA | West Los Angeles | California | 90073-1003 | — |
Site contact phone numbers, emails, and investigator names are intentionally not displayed here. Open the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for site contact information.
About this trial record page
- What this page shows
- Public field values for ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT03511209, including study identification, conditions, interventions, eligibility (age, sex, healthy volunteer), timeline, and U.S. site list.
- What this page does not do
- No medical advice, eligibility judgments, treatment recommendations, study quality scoring, or AI-generated medical summaries. No site contact phone numbers, emails, or investigator names.
- Where the data comes from
- Sourced from the official ClinicalTrials.gov public API. The official record is the source of truth.
- Last refresh
- Last update posted Nov 13, 2024 · Synced Sep 5, 2026
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Open the official record
The complete protocol, eligibility criteria, and contact information for NCT03511209 live on ClinicalTrials.gov.