Suvorexant in Elderly Patients with Insomnia: Pooled Analyses of Data from Phase III Randomized Controlled Clinical Trials
Recommended Citation
Herring WJ, Connor KM, Snyder E, Snavely DB, Zhang Y, Hutzelmann J, Matzura-Wolfe D, Benca RM, Krystal AD, Walsh JK, Lines C, Roth T, and Michelson D. Suvorexant in elderly patients with insomnia: Pooled analyses of data from phase III randomized controlled clinical trials. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 2017;25(1):791-802.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-1-2017
Publication Title
The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Suvorexant is an orexin receptor antagonist approved for treating insomnia at doses of 10-20 mg. Previously reported phase III results showed that suvorexant was effective and well-tolerated in a combined-age population (elderly and nonelderly adults). The present analysis evaluated the clinical profile of suvorexant specifically in the elderly.
METHODS: Prespecified subgroup analyses of pooled 3-month data from two (efficacy) and three (safety) randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group trials. In each trial, elderly (≥65 years) patients with insomnia were randomized to suvorexant 30 mg, suvorexant 15 mg, and placebo. By design, fewer patients were randomized to 15 mg. Patient-reported and polysomnographic (subset of patients) sleep maintenance and onset endpoints were measured.
RESULTS: Suvorexant 30 mg (N = 319) was effective compared with placebo (N = 318) on patient-reported and polysomnographic sleep maintenance, and onset endpoints at Night 1 (polysomnographic endpoints)/Week 1 (patient-reported endpoints), Month 1, and Month 3. Suvorexant 15 mg (N = 202 treated) was also effective across these measures, although the onset effect was less evident at later time points. The percentages of patients discontinuing because of adverse events over 3 months were 6.4% for 30 mg (N = 627 treated), 3.5% for 15 mg (N = 202 treated), and 5.5% for placebo (N = 469 treated). Somnolence was the most common adverse event (8.8% for 30 mg, 5.4% for 15 mg, 3.2% for placebo).
CONCLUSION: Suvorexant generally improved sleep maintenance and onset over 3 months of nightly treatment and was well-tolerated in elderly patients with insomnia (clinicaltrials.gov; NCT01097616, NCT01097629, NCT01021813).
Medical Subject Headings
Aged; Azepines; Double-Blind Method; Female; Humans; Male; Meta-Analysis as Topic; Polysomnography; Sleep Aids, Pharmaceutical; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders; Triazoles
PubMed ID
28427826
Volume
25
Issue
7
First Page
791
Last Page
802
