Gulf War Study
Predictors of Response to Insomnia Treatments in Gulf War Veterans
Research study conducted at the Palo Alto Veterans Affairs Hospital
Skills: teamwork, study design, recruitment, interviews, task delegation
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The Problem
How might we tailor a non-drug treatment to help gulf war veterans with their insomnia?
Although Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) is efficacious, the optimal target populations for its major components has not yet been well-defined for Gulf War Veterans.
Research Objective
We propose to address this gap and develop tools for clinicians to identify the best treatment for insomnia for individual Gulf War Veterans.
My Role
Research Assistant
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Collaborated with interdisciplinary teams to create study procedures across 3 Veterans Affairs sites
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Wrote phone screen, regulatory materials, study protocols, and a procedure manual for study
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Interviewed veterans over the phone for study eligibility
Participants
Gulf War Veterans with insomnia complaints
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Team
3 Research assistants (my role)
1 Primary Investigator: Dr Jerome Yesagave
2 Co-PIs: Dr. Leah Friedman & Dr. Andrea-Goldstein-Piekarski
1 Clinician: Dr. Donn Posner
1 Physician: Dr. Jen Jennings
Experimental Design
Two treatments - Behavioral Therapy {BT} and Cognitive Therapy {CT} - will be compared in a randomized clinical trial with a parallel groups design.
Data will be collected prior to the beginning of treatment, after 6 weeks of treatment, and at the end of a 6-month follow-up.
Data collection in progress...