Abstract
IntroductionTinnitus is a subjective sensation of hearing a sound in the absence of an external stimulus, which significantly worsens the quality of life in 15–25% of affected individuals. ObjectiveTo assess the effectiveness of acupuncture therapy for tinnitus. MethodsRandomized clinical trial (REBEC: 2T9T7Q) with 50 participants with tinnitus, divided into two groups: 25 participants in the acupuncture group and 25 participants in the control group. The acupuncture group received acupuncture treatment and the control group received no treatment. After a period of 5 weeks, they were called to perform the final evaluation and the control group received acupuncture treatment for ethical reasons. ResultsA statistically significant result was found for the primary outcome, reducing the intensity of tinnitus, with p=0.0001 and the secondary endpoint, showing improvement in quality of life, with p=0.0001. ConclusionChinese scalp acupuncture associated with bilateral electroacupuncture demonstrated, in the short term, a statistically significant improvement by reducing the level of tinnitus intensity, as well as improving the quality of life of individuals with tinnitus.
Highlights
Tinnitus is a symptom defined as the perception of sound without the presence of an external sound source.[1]It is estimated that approximately 5---15% of the population has of some type of tinnitus and, it can occur at any age, it is more prevalent among the elderly than in young adults.[2]
This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of an acupuncture program as a therapeutic procedure in patients with tinnitus. This was a randomized clinical trial (RCT) that included individuals of both genders, aged between 50 and 85 years, with moderate continuous tinnitus for at least 1 year, in whom tinnitus interfered with the quality of life measured by the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) questionnaire.[17]
When comparing the acupuncture group (AG) and control group (CG) regarding the values of the initial Visual analog scale (VAS) scores and the initial THI questionnaire, obtained in the assessment before the start of the treatment, the results showed no statistically significant difference, with p = 0.580 and p = 0.331, respectively
Summary
It is estimated that approximately 5---15% of the population has of some type of tinnitus and, it can occur at any age, it is more prevalent among the elderly (mainly in those aged between 60 and 69 years) than in young adults.[2] In a study on the incidence of tinnitus, Nondahl et al.[3] followed a group of 2922 adult and elderly individuals, aged 48---92 years, for 10 years. In a study carried out by Gibrin et al.[7] in 2012, the authors evaluated 519 individuals of both genders with a median age of 69 years and found a prevalence of 42.77% for tinnitus complaints
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