Online insomnia therapy trials rarely used the recommended face-to-face comparator
A review of trial design highlights uncertainty about how internet-delivered therapy compares with the treatment recommended by national guidelines.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
Most reviewed trials of internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia did not compare it with face-to-face therapy, the treatment recommended by nearly all included guidelines. This leaves uncertainty about how the online approach performs against that benchmark. The review assessed comparator choices; it did not establish that online therapy is ineffective.
This abstract-based summary provides no comparative symptom outcomes or details of the alternative control conditions. Comparator selection alone cannot determine which treatment works better.
What researchers found
Use of face-to-face therapy as the comparator
Proportion of reviewed internet-delivered CBT-I trials using this benchmark; the review's search timeframe was not reported.
What the review examined
The researchers examined randomized trials in clinical insomnia samples and national guidelines from the countries where those trials took place. Their question was whether the studies used the established treatment as a comparison.
Why comparator choice matters
Trials using other comparison conditions address different questions from a direct comparison with face-to-face therapy. According to the review, studies that omitted this benchmark did not explain their departure from the Declaration of Helsinki's recommendation.
The original publication
Time to take the Declaration of Helsinki seriously? A systematic review of comparison conditions in clinical trials on internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia.
Grolig L, Brückner H, Heimes H et al.
Sleep Med Rev · 2026
- PubMed ID
- 41389384
- Record checked
AI-assisted research and writing. This explains one selected publication; it is not a complete review of everything known. Our approach.
One more question, understood.
Keep track of the research you’ve explored.