REM Sleep Impairment May Underlie Sleep-Driven Modulations of Tinnitus in Sleep Intermittent Tinnitus Subjects: A Controlled Study

Robin Guillard (), Louis Korczowski, Damien Léger, Marco Congedo and Alain Londero
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Robin Guillard: GIPSA-Lab, Grenoble INP, CNRS, Université Grenoble Alpes, 38000 Grenoble, France
Louis Korczowski: Robin Guillard EIRL, 38000 Grenoble, France
Damien Léger: VIFASOM ERC 7330, Vigilance Fatigue Sommeil et Santé Publique, Université Paris Cité, 75004 Paris, France
Marco Congedo: GIPSA-Lab, Grenoble INP, CNRS, Université Grenoble Alpes, 38000 Grenoble, France
Alain Londero: Service ORL et Chirurgie Cervico-Faciale, Hôpital Européen Georges-Pompidou, APHP, 75015 Paris, France

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 8, 1-17

Abstract: (1) Background: Poor sleep and fragmented sleep are associated with several chronic conditions. Tinnitus is an auditory symptom that often negatively combines with poor sleep and has been associated with sleep impairment and sleep apnea. The relationship between tinnitus psychoacoustic characteristics and sleep is still poorly explored, notably for a particular subgroup of patients, for whom the perceived loudness of their tinnitus is highly modulated by sleep. (2) Methods: For this observational prospective study, 30 subjects with tinnitus were recruited, including 15 “sleep intermittent tinnitus” subjects, who had reported significant modulations of tinnitus loudness related to night sleep and naps, and a control group of 15 subjects displaying constant non-sleep-modulated tinnitus. The control group had matching age, gender, self-reported hearing loss grade and tinnitus impact on quality of life with the study group. All patients underwent a polysomnography (PSG) assessment for one complete night and then were asked to fill in a case report form, as well as a report of tinnitus loudness before and after the PSG. (3) Results: “Sleep Intermittent tinnitus” subjects had less Stage 3 sleep ( p < 0.01), less Rapid-Eye Movement (REM) Sleep ( p < 0.05) and more Stage 2 sleep ( p < 0.05) in proportion and duration than subjects from the control group. In addition, in the “sleep Intermittent tinnitus” sample, a correlation was found between REM sleep duration and tinnitus overnight modulation ( p < 0.05), as well as tinnitus impact on quality of life ( p < 0.05). These correlations were not present in the control group. (4) Conclusions: This study suggests that among the tinnitus population, patients displaying sleep-modulated tinnitus have deteriorated sleep quality. Furthermore, REM sleep characteristics may play a role in overnight tinnitus modulation. Potential pathophysiological explanations accounting for this observation are hypothesized and discussed.

Keywords: sleep intermittent tinnitus; sleep; REM; polysomnography; sleep apnea (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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