Abstract
Chronic tinnitus, an auditory phantom sensation, is common and often causes sleep complaints and depression. In the present study, we analyzed the data from the National Institute for Longevity Sciences-Longitudinal Study of Aging (NILS-LSA) to evaluate the prevalence of tinnitus and its correlation with sleep complaints and depression in middle aged and elderly persons. A subjective sleep questionnaire survey and CES-D (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression) and pure tone audiometry were undertaken among 2,142 subjects aged 40-79 years living in Aichi prefecture, Japan. Persistent or intermittent tinnitus was reported by 416 subjects (38.5%) of the men and 346 subjects (32.6%) of the women. The prevalence of tinnitus was higher for males than females significantly (p=0.005). The multiple logistic regression analysis revealed significant association between tinnitus and difficulty in falling asleep (male: odds ratio (OR) 1.61, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) 1.19-2.18, p=0.002, female: OR 1.75, 95%CI 1.31-2.32, p=0.0001), interrupted sleep (male: OR 1.57, 95%CI 1.17-2.09, p=0.002, female: OR 1.68, 95%CI 1.27-2.32, p=0.0003), having dreams (male: OR 1.81, 95%CI 1.33-2.47, p=0.0002, female: OR 1.56, 95%CI 1.15-2.12, p=0.004), and depression (male: OR 1.90, 95%CI 1.30-2.75, p=0.0007, female: OR 1.79, 95%CI 1.24-2.59, p=0.002) in both sexes, and revealed inversely association with restorative sleep (male: OR 0.74, 95%CI 0.57-0.95, p=0.017, female: OR 0.62, 95%CI 0.47-0.82, p=0.0007). The analysis of general linear model revealed significant reduction in sleep duration in females with tinnitus (p=0.006). However in males, it showed no significant difference in sleep duration. These results suggested that the effect of tinnitus on sleep complaints and depression is severe in middle aged and elderly persons.
