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Warm ears, a red flag for sleepiness?

Mink S Schinkelshoek1,2, Rolf Fronczek1,2, Anke F J de Boer1

  • 1Department of Neurology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.

Journal of Sleep Research
|August 23, 2022
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Ear skin temperature, measured using wireless devices, shows a slight increase before sleep onset in some individuals. This finding suggests ear temperature may be a new indicator for sleepiness and posture.

Keywords:
ear temperatureskin temperaturesleep onsetsleepiness

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Area of Science:

  • Physiology
  • Sleep Science
  • Biomedical Engineering

Background:

  • Core body and skin temperatures are closely linked to sleep and alertness.
  • The distal-to-proximal skin temperature gradient is a known predictor of sleep onset.
  • Increased ear skin temperature, often associated with redness, is anecdotally linked to sleepiness, particularly in children.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between ear skin temperature and sleepiness.
  • To determine if ear skin temperature can serve as a distinct physiological measure of sleepiness.
  • To assess the validity of wireless measurement devices (iButtons) for ear skin temperature monitoring.

Main Methods:

  • Assessed ear, distal, and proximal skin temperatures using wireless iButtons in 44 adult patients undergoing electroencephalographic examinations.
  • Measured subjective sleepiness using the Stanford Sleepiness Scale and objective sleepiness via electroencephalography-determined sleep onset.
  • Analyzed correlations between ear skin temperature and other temperature measurements, as well as its changes relative to sleep onset and patient posture.

Main Results:

  • Ear skin temperature showed weak correlations with distal skin temperature and the distal-to-proximal gradient, but not with proximal skin temperature.
  • A significant increase in ear skin temperature was observed in a subgroup of 13 patients 1-5 minutes before sleep onset.
  • This pre-sleep temperature increase was also associated with the supine body position.

Conclusions:

  • Wireless iButtons are a valid method for measuring ear skin temperature.
  • Ear skin temperature exhibits characteristics of both distal and proximal skin temperature measurements.
  • Changes in ear skin temperature are associated with sleep onset and supine posture, suggesting potential as a novel sleepiness indicator.