At the 20th Annual U.S. Psychiatric and Mental Health Congress in Orlando,
Florida, pharma giant Sanofi-Aventis announced results from a new study that
showed chronic insomnia patients showed improvement in two key parameters of
work performance: output and time management.
 
Treatments were administered from three to seven nights a week during a
six-month period. Work outcomes were measured by the Work Limitation
Questionnaire (WLQ), a self-administrated questionnaire measuring the degree
to which health problems interfere with the ability to perform job roles.
Workers rated 25 different job demands on a scale of 0-100. The WLQ outcomes
were assessed at baseline, week 4, 12, and end of treatment (week 24) or
premature discontinuation.
 
Two of the WLQ scales were included in the study: worker output and time
management. Worker output assessed the ability to meet demands for quantity
and quality of work while completing tasks in a timely manner. Time
management assessed the ability to meet time demands and cope with
scheduling pressures.
 
In patients treated with AMBIEN CR, mean output scores improved by 14.1
points compared to 9.3 points for placebo. Mean time management scores
improved by 17.8 points for AMBIEN CR-treated patients compared to 8.6
points for placebo.
 
"These new data add to the growing body of evidence that shows that the
treatment of chronic insomnia can improve next day functioning," said Milton
Erman, MD, chief medical officer, Avastra USA, and clinical professor of
psychiatry, UCSD School of Medicine.