New hypnotic agents: clinical studies in general practice.

The type of sleep problem should be determined so that the most appropriate hypnotic can be used, and in this respect duration of action is an important property. The benzodiazepine hypnotics are adequate for this purpose, but problems may arise due to daytime after-effects and the possibility of dependence developing. Non-benzodiazepine hypnotics may be useful alternatives and our group has undertaken double-blind comparative trials with two such compounds, namely zopiclone and zolpidem. Zopiclone was compared to temazepam in a cross-over trial on 36 patients and similar hypnotic effects were recorded. In a parallel group study, zolpidem 10 mg was compared to zolpidem 20 mg and placebo in 88 patients. Both doses of zolpidem were significantly better than placebo on a number of the parameters recorded, side-effects were negligible and there was no evidence of any rebound insomnia during the final control week.

RCT Entities:   Population Interventions Outcomes