title: Sleep complaints in elderly tinnitus patients: a controlled study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Sleep difficulties are among the most frequent complaints associated with tinnitus. Yet most studies reporting on this problem are rather succinct, and all of them lack proper age- and health-matched control subjects.
  
  
  METHODS
  The present study reports on 102 participants (51 with and 51 without tinnitus), assessed with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the Beck-II depression inventory, a hyperacusis questionnaire, and a tinnitus-reaction questionnaire (tinnitus group only). Participants were matched for health and relevant socioeconomic factors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results show that tinnitus patients have greater self-reported sleep difficulties compared with control subjects, specifically sleep efficiency and sleep quality, and that high tinnitus-related distress is associated with greater sleep disturbance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Rather than hearing loss, sleep complaints in this population are mainly explained by hyperacusis, a hallmark of tinnitus, and to a lesser extent by subclinical depressive symptoms.
authors.affiliation: Ecole d'orthophonie et d'audiologie, Centre de recherche en neuropsychologie et en cognition, Université de Montréal, Canada. sylvie.hebert@umontreal.ca
authors.forename: Sylvie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hébert
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Carrier
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000368:Aged; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D001309:Auditory Threshold / Q000502:physiology; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D012001:Hyperacusis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology; D012803:Sick Role; D020919:Sleep Disorders, Intrinsic / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014012:Tinnitus / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology