Systematic Evaluation of the Efficacy of Acupuncture Associated with Physical and Mental Intervention when Treating Idiopathic Tinnitus and the Improvement of Tinnitus Symptoms

Abstract

Objective. To systematically evaluate the efficacy of acupuncture associated with physical and mental intervention when treating idiopathic tinnitus and the improvement of tinnitus symptoms, so as to supply evidence-based medicine for its popularization and adoption. Methods. PubMed, EMBASE, ScienceDirect, Cochrane Library, China knowledge Network Database (CNKI), China VIP Database, Wanfang Database, and China Biomedical Literature Database (CBM) online database were searched for the controlled trial of acupuncture associated with physical and mental intervention when treating idiopathic tinnitus. The retrieval time limit is from January 2010 to March 2022. Separately, two researchers extracted the data, and according to the Cochrane Handbook 5.3, the bias risk of each piece of literature was assessed. The collected data were measured using RevMan5.3 statistical software. Results. Finally, 5 CT articles were included in this study, with a total sample size of 282. Meta-analysis showed that the effective rate of the study group was significantly higher than that of the control group ( P < 0.05 ). The scores of tinnitus disorder scale (THI) after treatment were analyzed by Meta. The THI scores of the study group after treatment were significantly lower than those before treatment. Meta-analysis of the severity of tinnitus after treatment showed that the severity of tinnitus in the observation group after treatment was significantly lower than that before treatment. There is a certain publication deviation in the literature, which may be related to the heterogeneity of the research and the small number of literatures. Conclusion. On the basis of acupuncture treatment, associated with physical and mental intervention is helpful to the recovery of patients with idiopathic tinnitus, can effectively improve their clinical symptoms, and is suitable for clinical application. A popularization of this concept in clinical practice is worth considering, but further research and follow-up with a higher methodological quality and longer intervention time are needed to confirm its efficacy.

Tinnitus Guidelines and Their Evidence Base

“…This is minimally more than the 7-point improvement required to reach the MCID [80] and much less than the effect of cochlear implants, which improve the THI by 23.2 points [81]. However, the mean THI reduction from CBT is similar to the meta-analytic findings in rTMS (THI: −7 to −8) [36,82,83], tDCS (THI: −9.69) [84] and acupuncture (THI: −8.28 to −10) [75,85]. Yet, all guidelines will recommend CBT, but not the other treatments with similar meta-analytic effect sizes.…”

Network meta-analysis of acupuncture for tinnitus

“…[5] An increasing number of studies have been published to support that acupuncture can effectively relieve the symptoms caused by tinnitus in patients, reduce the loudness and disability of tinnitus, and improve quality of life, [6][7][8] but some studies have contradictory results. [9,10] There are many systematic reviews have investigated acupuncture for the treatment of tinnitus, [11][12][13] however, those studies only compare their own therapeutic results against their own targeted treatments, and the current guidelines declined the recommendation of acupuncture interventions for tinnitus management. [14,15] Comparisons of the efficacy of multiple acupuncture interventions are therefore necessary, but it is difficult to conduct large-scale randomized controlled trial.…”

Retracted: Systematic Evaluation of the Efficacy of Acupuncture Associated with Physical and Mental Intervention when Treating Idiopathic Tinnitus and the Improvement of Tinnitus Symptoms

“…This article has been retracted by Hindawi, as publisher, following an investigation undertaken by the publisher [1]. This investigation has uncovered evidence of systematic manipulation of the publication and peer-review process.…”