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Abstract
Sleep disturbance is a common and frequent complaint reported by tinnitus sufferers.
Recent studies have shown that when insomnia and depression are associated with tinnitus
there is decreased tolerance and increased discomfort with the tinnitus. The purpose
of this study was to assess the reported prevalence and severity of sleep disturbance
in chronic tinnitus patients. Patients (n = 80) were military personnel without major psychiatric disturbance and their tinnitus
was associated with noise-induced permanent healing loss (NIHL). Mini Sleep Questionnaire
(MSQ) scores for sleep disturbance were found to be higher than those of normal controls
in 77% of the patients. Highest MSQ scores in tinnitus patients with a sleep complaint
were for delayed sleep, morning awakenings, mid-sleep awakenings, morning fatigue,
and chronic fatigue. In contrast, a complaint of excessive daytime sleep (EDS) was
not common. The self-rated severity of the tinnitus was greater in subjects with higher
sleep disturbance scores. Self-rated depressive symptomatology was also highly correlated
with sleep disturbance. Retrospective examination of sleep records and polysomnographic
data for 10 patients with a complaint of chronic tinnitus revealed a combined effect
for the tinnitus condition when associated with another conventional sleep disorder.
In spite of the common complaint of sleep disturbance in tinnitus, only a minority
seek a sleep examination.
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Article info
Publication history
Received in revised form:
April 16,
1993
Received:
October 2,
1992
Identification
Copyright
© 1993 Published by Elsevier Inc.
