Table 1:

Randomized controlled trials of non-benzodiazepine sedative-hypnotic drugs versus benzodiazepines for the treatment of insomnia

Study	Drug, dose		Study duration, d	No. of patients	Mean age, yr	Outcomes
Study	Non-benzodiazepine	Benzodiazepine or placebo	Study duration, d	No. of patients	Mean age, yr	Outcomes
Venter et al.14	Zopiclone 7.5–15 mg	Triazolam 0.25–0.5 mg	17	41	76.8	The zopiclone group woke up once on average and the triazolam group woke up nearly twice on average (mean 1.7; p = 0.06) Adverse events reported in 35% of zopiclone and 38% of triazolam patients; difference not significant
Mouret et al.15	Zopiclone 7.5 mg	Triazolam 0.25 mg	15	10	65	Subjective aspects of sleep did not differ between groups Sleep recordings did not differ between groups
Leppik et al.16	Zolpidem 5 mg	Triazolam 0.125 mg, or temazepam 15 mg, or placebo	28	335	69	Subjective sleep latency with zolpidem decreased significantly from baseline by 32.7 to 39.7 min per night for weeks 1 through 4; difference was significant compared with placebo for a given week (p < 0.05) Subjective sleep latency with temazepam decreased significantly from baseline by 30–39.4 min per night for weeks 1 through 4; difference was not significant compared with placebo at any time Subjective sleep latency did not differ significantly between zolpidem and temazepam groups Duration of subjective sleep did not change in any of the treatment groups compared with placebo
Roger et al.17	Zolpidem 5 or 10 mg	Triazolam 0.25 mg	21	205	81	Questionnaire results, subjective sleep quality, and number of awakenings at night and in early morning improved in both groups (p < 0.01) Proportion of patients who fell asleep in less than 30 min increased from 20% to 65% in both groups based on questionnaire responses (p < 0.001) The increase in mean total sleep time was 1.5 h in the 5-mg zolpidem group v. about 2 h in the 10-mg zolpidem group and the triazolam group (p < 0.001)