Abstract
Although a wide range of tinnitus management interventions is currently under research and a variety of therapeutic interventions have already been applied in clinical practice, no optimal and universal tinnitus treatment has been reached yet. This fact is to some extent a consequence of the high heterogeneity of the methodologies used in tinnitus related clinical studies. In this manuscript, we have identified, summarized, and critically appraised tinnitus-related randomized clinical trials since 2010, aiming at systematically mapping the research conducted in this area. The results of our analysis of the 73 included randomized clinical trials provide important insight on the identification of limitations of previous works, methodological pitfalls or gaps in current knowledge, a prerequisite for the adequate interpretation of current literature and execution of future studies.
Highlights
Tinnitus is traditionally described as the perception of a sound in the absence of corresponding external stimuli [1]
An estimation of whether intervention was considered effective is provided, based on whether interventional group showed statistical and clinical improvement in the primary outcome measure compared to baseline and a statistically significant difference was found, compared to the control arm, in the case no intervention is conducted
Seven studies have excluded participants for whom tinnitus was not their primary complaint, while there is a large heterogeneity among studies with regards to the tinnitus onset and minimum duration criterion; 2, 3, 6, and 12 months have all been used in the studies included in this review
Summary
Tinnitus is traditionally described as the perception of a sound in the absence of corresponding external stimuli [1]. In a very recent consensus article, a more precise definition of tinnitus has been proposed: Tinnitus was defined as “the conscious awareness of a tonal and/or noise sound for which there is no identifiable corresponding external acoustic source” and tinnitus disorder was defined as “tinnitus plus tinnitus-associated emotional distress and functional disability” [2]. Tinnitus is considered an enigmatic situation and universally accepted answers to fundamental questions about its pathophysiology, course, and optimal treatment are still pending [1,3,4]. In the general population; it is considered bothersome only in approximately. Tinnitus is considered as a symptom well tolerated by the majority of individuals; it might cause levels of annoyance which can be adequate to make tinnitus the determining factor for significant impairment of the perceived health status and the overall quality of life
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