Usage of Therapeutic Sleep Deprivation: A Survey in Psychiatric Hospitals in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland.

Objective

Therapeutic sleep deprivation (SD) is a nonpharmacological treatment that is used most often for depression. The aim of this study was to examine the pattern of use of SD in psychiatric hospitals in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland.

Methods

A questionnaire about perceived usage of SD was sent by mail to all 511 psychiatric hospitals in the three countries. Nonresponders were asked to answer the questionnaire by phone. We achieved a response rate of 75.3%.

Results

SD was recommended by 61.3% of all hospitals. Despite this degree of recommendation, nearly two thirds of the psychiatric hospitals had not treated a patient with SD during the last 12 months. Of the respondents, 59.5% considered SD to be indicated for major depressive disorder, 17.7% for bipolar depression, and 7.8% for other indications. SD was administered most frequently in inpatient settings and in combination with other therapies. Total SD (patients kept awake entire night) and partial late SD (patients kept awake in second half of night) were judged equally effective. Of the hospitals, 53.0% reported having seen hypomania and 13.2% manic episodes as side effects (rates do not represent actual incident rates).

Conclusion

The lack of large controlled studies for SD with its different forms of treatment probably still hinders a broader use of the therapy. Therefore, further efforts should be undertaken to provide high-quality scientific evidence for the usage of SD.