Insomnia Associated with Tinnitus and Gender Differences

Outpatient Clinic for Sleep Disorders and Tinnitus, University Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Paracelsus Medical University, 90419 Nuremberg, Germany

Faculty for Social Work, Technical University of Applied Sciences Nuremberg Georg Simon Ohm, 90489 Nuremberg, Germany

Faculty for Medical Sciences, University Goce Delcev Stip, 2000 Stip, North Macedonia

⁴

Research Office (Biostatistics), Paracelsus Medical University, 5020 Salzburg, Austria

⁵

Department of Ophthalmology and Optometry, Paracelsus Medical University, 5020 Salzburg, Austria

⁶

Research Program Experimental Ophthalmology and Glaucoma Research, Paracelsus Medical University, 5020 Salzburg, Austria

⁷

KSM Clinic for Sleep Medicine Bad Zurzach, 5330 Bad Zurzach, Switzerland

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Academic Editor: Paul B. Tchounwou

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(6), 3209; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18063209

Received: 5 February 2021 / Revised: 10 March 2021 / Accepted: 12 March 2021 / Published: 19 March 2021

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Treatment of Insomnia and Sleep Disorders)

View Full-Text Download PDF

Browse Figures

Review Reports Citation Export

Abstract

Chronic tinnitus causes a decrease in well-being and can negatively affect sleep quality. It has further been indicated that there are clinically relevant gender differences, which may also have an impact on sleep quality. By conducting a retrospective and explorative data analysis for differences in patients with tinnitus and patients diagnosed with tinnitus and insomnia, hypothesized differences were explored in the summed test scores and on item-level of the validated psychometric instruments. A cross-sectional study was conducted collecting data from a sample of tinnitus patients (n = 76). Insomnia was diagnosed in 49 patients. Gender differences were found on aggregated test scores of the MADRS and BDI with men scoring higher than women, indicating higher depressive symptoms in men. Women stated to suffer more from headaches (p < 0.003), neck pain (p < 0.006) and nervousness as well as restlessness (p < 0.02). Women also reported an increase in tinnitus loudness in response to stress compared to men (p < 0.03). Male individuals with tinnitus and insomnia have higher depression scores and more clinically relevant depressive symptoms than women, who suffer more from psychosomatic symptoms. The results indicate a need for a targeted therapy of depressive symptoms in male patients and targeted treatment of psychosomatic symptoms, stress-related worsening of insomnia and tinnitus in women. View Full-Text

Keywords: tinnitus; insomnia; sleep; sleep disturbance; depression; gender difference

▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Richter, K.; Zimni, M.; Tomova, I.; Retzer, L.; Höfig, J.; Kellner, S.; Fries, C.; Bernstein, K.; Hitzl, W.; Hillemacher, T.; Miloseva, L.; Acker, J. Insomnia Associated with Tinnitus and Gender Differences. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 3209. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18063209

AMA Style

Richter K, Zimni M, Tomova I, Retzer L, Höfig J, Kellner S, Fries C, Bernstein K, Hitzl W, Hillemacher T, Miloseva L, Acker J. Insomnia Associated with Tinnitus and Gender Differences. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2021; 18(6):3209. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18063209

Chicago/Turabian Style

Richter, Kneginja, Melanie Zimni, Iva Tomova, Lukas Retzer, Joachim Höfig, Stefanie Kellner, Carla Fries, Karina Bernstein, Wolfgang Hitzl, Thomas Hillemacher, Lence Miloseva, and Jens Acker. 2021. "Insomnia Associated with Tinnitus and Gender Differences" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18, no. 6: 3209. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18063209

Find Other Styles

Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Metrics

Abstract views Pdf views Html views

Article Menu

Insomnia Associated with Tinnitus and Gender Differences

Abstract

Share and Cite

Article Metrics

Article Access Statistics

Article Access Map by Country/Region

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI