SLEEP DISTURBANCE ASSOCIATED WITH CHRONIC TINNITUS

Sleep disturbance is a common and frequent complaint reported by tinni tus sufferers. Recent studies have shown that when insomnia and depres sion are associated with tinnitus there is decreased tolerance and inc reased discomfort with the tinnitus. The purpose of this study was to assess the reported prevalence and severity of sleep disturbance in ch ronic tinnitus patients. Patients (n = 80) were military personnel wit hout major psychiatric disturbance and their tinnitus was associated w ith noise-induced permanent hearing loss (NIHL). Mini Sleep Questionna ire (MSQ) scores for sleep disturbance were found to be higher than th ose of normal controls in 77% of the patients. Highest MSQ scores in t innitus patients with a sleep complaint were for delayed sleep, mornin g awakenings, mid-sleep awakenings, morning fatigue, and chronic fatig ue. In contrast, a complaint of excessive daytime sleep (EDS) was not common. The self-rated severity of the tinnitus was greater in subject s with higher sleep disturbance scores. Self-rated depressive symptoma tology was also highly correlated with sleep disturbance. Retrospectiv e examination of sleep records and polysomnographic data for 10 patien ts with a complaint of chronic tinnitus revealed a combined effect for the tinnitus condition when associated with another conventional slee p disorder. In spite of the common complaint of sleep disturbance in t innitus, only a minority seek a sleep examination.