Modified suanzaoren decoction (SZRD) and esazolam were equally effective in treating chronic insomnia but the latter excelled in improving subjective sleep quality.
In this study, 80 participants diagnosed with chronic insomnia disorder were divided into two treatment groups. One group was treated with the traditional Chinese medicine, modified suanzaoren decoction (SZRD), and the other group received esazolam tablets. The treatment duration was 6 weeks. Several indices, including the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Insomnia Severity Index, Hamilton Anxiety Scale, Hamilton Depression Scale, and polysomnographic measures, were recorded. These metrics helped assess the changes in sleep, mood, and cognitive function amongst the subjects.
Comparing within each group, both treatments showed improvements in subjective sleep, depression, anxiety, immediate and delayed memory scores. However, when comparing between the groups, a significant difference was noted in subjective sleep quality scores. The study demonstrated an increase in the duration of N3 stage (deep sleep) in both groups, showing equal efficacy in improving deep sleep. However, when assessing stability over time, esazolam had higher predictive stability in improving subjective sleep quality, while SZRD had higher predictive stability in maintaining slow-wave (N3 stage) sleep.
