Effects of Herbal Sleep Formula on Patients With Insomnia and Tinnitus

February 2, 2026 updated by: Dalin Tzu Chi General Hospital

Effects of Herbal Sleep Formula on Patients With Insomnia and Tinnitus: Prospective, Randomized, Double-blinded Clinical Trial

This project is planned to collect non-dialysis adults who suffer from sleep and tinnitus disorders and refuse to take sleeping medicines in our hospital by random assignment and double-blind method.

120 adults were divided into 3 groups.

  1. Control group: receive placebo treatment, once a day, four pills each time.
  2. Herbal compound low-dose group: once a day, two herbal compound capsules and two placebos each time. The total amount of herbal compound capsules is 582 mg.
  3. Herbal compound high-dose group: once a day, four capsules each time. The total amount of herbal compound capsules is 1164 mg.

All subjects received health questionnaire, sleep questionnaire and tinnitus questionnaire before the start of the test At the end of the treatment(3 months), the health questionnaire, sleep questionnaire, and tinnitus questionnaire were accepted.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Sleep disturbances were very popular in general population. The prevalence of sleep disturbances were about 20 ~30% in adults. Insomnia is a complex disease with many etiologies. For example, pressure from daily activity, psychiatric diseases, and organic diseases may contribute to sleep disturbances. Besides, insomnia often comorbid comorbidly with tinnitus, and form a vicious cycle between insomnia and tinnitus. In the aspect of treatment, besides psychological treatment, insomnia was often treated with hypnotics. Variable types of GABA agonists and/or antidepression agents, including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) were often used for insomnia. However, the medical treatments for insomnia patients were unsatisfactory, and many patients search for traditional Chinese medicine and/or herbal medicine.

Tinnitus can be defined as a phantom auditory perception in the absence of an external sound source. It is a common auditory symptom with a prevalence ranges from 4.6% in a survey study in Iranian population to 25.3% in a nationally representative survey in the United States, depending on the definition of tinnitus and study populations. A recent nationwide survey of the general population of South Korea reported that the prevalence of any tinnitus was 20.7% among adults aged 20 to 98 years. The prevalence was higher in women and it increased with age. A cohort study in England indicated that the incidence of clinically significant tinnitus was 5.4 cases per 10,000 person-years.

Tinnitus can severely interfere with activities of daily living, with common comorbidities such as anxiety, irritability, depression, inability to concentration, and sleep disturbances. Studies based on both questionnaires and polysomnography reported that sleep disturbance are common in patients with tinnitus. Recently, the investigators found that the risk of tinnitus was increased in middle-aged and elderly patients with sleep disturbance and/or sleep apnea. In the aspect of treatment, GABA agonists were often used to for tinnitus, but the results are still unsatisfactory till now.

Since many years ago, traditional Chinese medicine or herbal medicine had take care of insomnia and tinnitus. Some herbal foods and/or drugs, for example Lemon Balm Extract、Rice bran fermentation extract (GABA)、L-Tryptophan, were suggested for these two diseases with various results. In this study ,the investigators aimed to investigate the effects of herbal sleep formula on the sleep and tinnitus of patients without hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis.

This project is planned to collect non-dialysis adults who suffer from sleep and tinnitus disorders and refuse to take sleeping medicines in our hospital by random assignment and double-blind method.

120 adults were divided into 3 groups.

  1. Control group: receive placebo treatment, once a day, four pills each time.
  2. Herbal compound low-dose group: once a day, two herbal compound capsules and two placebos each time. The total amount of herbal compound capsules is 582 mg.
  3. Herbal compound high-dose group: once a day, four capsules each time. The total amount of herbal compound capsules is 1164 mg.

All subjects received health questionnaire, sleep questionnaire and tinnitus questionnaire before the start of the test At the end of the treatment(3 months), the health questionnaire, sleep questionnaire, and tinnitus questionnaire were accepted.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
108

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Locations

  • Taiwan
      • Chiayi City, Taiwan, 66247
        • Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

20 years to 70 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Age 20~70 years old
  2. Non-dialysis patients
  3. Suffering from sleep disorders and tinnitus
  4. Refuse to take sleeping pills

Exclusion criteria:

  1. Patients who are bedridden or unable to take care of themselves.
  2. dialysis patients.
  3. Patients who cannot understand the details of this study or cannot cooperate with the examination.
  4. History of alcohol or drug abuse.
  5. Pregnant and lactating women
  6. Patients with moderate to severe sleep apnea
  7. Take sleeping pills

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Placebo Comparator: Control
receive placebo treatment, once a day, four pills each time.
Dietary supplement: The gel contains a mixture of glucose and maltodextrin
The gel contains a mixture of glucose and maltodextrin - a complex carbohydrate - along with fat and a trace of protein.
Experimental: Herbal compound low-dose
once a day, two herbal compound capsules and two placebos each time. The total amount of herbal compound capsules is 582 mg.
Dietary supplement: Herbal compound low-dose
The total amount of herbal compound capsules is 582 mg.
Experimental: Herbal compound high-dose
once a day, four capsules each time. The total amount of herbal compound capsules is 1164 mg.
Dietary supplement: Herbal compound high-dose
The total amount of herbal compound capsules is 1164 mg.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index
Time Frame: 3 month
The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) is a self-rated questionnaire which assesses sleep quality and disturbances over a 1-month time interval. Nineteen individual items generate seven "component" scores: subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, habitual sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances, use of sleeping medication, and daytime dysfunction. Each aspect has a minimum score of 0 and a maximum of 3 points. The total score range is 0-21 points. When the PSQI score is greater than 5 points, it indicates that there is a sleep quality disorder. The higher the score, the worse the sleep quality.
3 month
Tinnitus Handicap Inventory
Time Frame: 3 month
The Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) comprises 25 items grouped into three subscales: Functional, Emotional, and Catastrophic. The Functional subscale (11 items) deals with limitations caused by tinnitus in the areas of mental, social, and physical functioning. The Emotional subscale (9 items) concerns affective responses to tinnitus, e.g. anger, frustration, depression, anxiety. The Catastrophic subscale (5 items) probes the most severe reactions to tinnitus, such as loss of control, inability to escape from tinnitus, and fear of having a terrible disease. For each item a patient can respond with a "yes" (scored 4 points), "sometimes" (2 points), or "no" (0 points). The responses are summed within each subscale and for the total scale. The higher the score, the greater the perceived tinnitus severity.
3 month

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Dalin Tzu Chi General Hospital

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Study Chair: Juen-Haur Hwang, MD, PhD., Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
September 16, 2021

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
January 31, 2026

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
January 31, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
August 27, 2021

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
January 27, 2022

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
January 28, 2022

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
February 4, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
February 2, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • A10804001-4

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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