Background & Objectives: Insomnia is one of the most common sleep disorders in the world. It
causes disruption in daily activities and increases the risk of major depression. Hence, clinically
the appropriate and persistent treatment of insomnia is very important. Using of hypnotic drugs
such as benzodiazepines is the common treatment for insomnia but they show several side effects
and it seems that new medications should be used for treatment of sleep disorders. The aim of this
study was comparison between the effects of electromagnetic therapy and conventional drug
usage in the treatment of insomnia.
Methods: In a blind randomized clinical trial study, 60 people referred to the private office of the
psychiatrist and experienced more than 3 months extended primary insomnia were selected. They
were diagnosed by DSM-IV criteria and had no other underlying problems. The subjects were
divided in two groups: 30 people in each and treated electromagnetically or with Alprazolam for 3
weeks. Before treatment, immediately and one month after treatment, quality of sleep and severity
of the insomnia were evaluated by using the standard questionnaires and finally, the results were
analyzed statistically.
Results: In this study, 60 individuals participated from whom 28 were male (46.7%) and 32
patients were female (53.3%).The mean age was 37.3 years old in a range of 17- 65. The mean
point of each questionnaire, before and immediately after treatment significantly didn't show any
difference but one month after treatment, there was a significant difference in both groups.
Conclusion: To treat insomnia, electromagnetic therapy appears to be used as a replacement for
sedative medicines. It also has more stability in comparison with other sedative medicines and no
side effects have been reported yet
