But there was little objective improvement in patients who got the sleeping pills.

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Most of the studies measure patients' subjective assessment of their sleep improvement instead of objective evidence from a sleep lab, he adds.

WSJ: Can a Root Get to the Problem of Insomnia?

Surprisingly, patients on meds showed little objective improvement, the study found.

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The key difference is that clinical trials are much more rigorous, and as much as possible rely on objective, quantitative analysis to measure improvement, as opposed to field trials, which are more reliant on patients' subjective reactions.

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