SynthesisBMC psychiatry2020
Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on chronic tinnitus: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in BMC psychiatry, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Efficacy of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for subjective chronic tinnitus: a randomized controlled trial meta-analysis.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2025Pooled it
- Guideline
- Altered parietal multisensory integration in chronic tinnitus during closed-loop real-time fMRI auditory downregulation.NeuroImage. Clinical · 2026Trial
- Focal tDCS of auditory cortex in chronic tinnitus: A randomized controlled mechanistic trial.Clinical neurophysiology : official journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2024Trial
- Multiple Daily Rounds of Theta-Burst Stimulation for Tinnitus: Preliminary Results.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2021Trial
- Tinnitus and tinnitus disorder: Genetic, neurobiological, and clinical differentiation.iScience · 2026Review
- Case Report: Repeated courses of low-frequency rTMS for refractory tinnitus: an N-of-1 study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Review
- Efficacy of Internet-Based Therapies for Tinnitus: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Journal of personalized medicine · 2024Review
- Neuromodulation techniques - From non-invasive brain stimulation to deep brain stimulation.Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2024Review
- Mechanisms of Action of TMS in the Treatment of Depression.Current topics in behavioral neurosciences · 2024Review
- The Brain Connectome for Clinical Neuroscience.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2024Review
- Unresolved Issues Associated with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) Treatment of Chronic Tinnitus.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Review
- Tinnitus Guidelines and Their Evidence Base.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
- Chronic Tinnitus.Deutsches Arzteblatt international · 2022Review
- Current Status of Neuromodulation-Induced Cortical Prehabilitation and Considerations for Treatment Pathways in Lower-Grade Glioma Surgery.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Sequential Prefrontal and Temporoparietal Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) for Treatment of Tinnitus With and Without Comorbid Depression: A Case Series and Systematic Review.Frontiers in neurology · 2022Article
- Implications of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation as a Treatment Modality for Tinnitus.Journal of clinical medicine · 2021Review
- Tinnitus and Brain Stimulation.Current topics in behavioral neurosciences · 2021Article
- Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Tinnitus Treatment in Vestibular Schwannoma: A Pilot Study.Frontiers in neurology · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAlthough the clinical efficacy and safety of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in the treatment of chronic tinnitus have been frequently examined, the results remain contradictory. Therefore, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysed clinical trials examining the effects of rTMS to evaluate its clinical efficacy and safety.
methodsStudies of rTMS for chronic tinnitus were retrieved from PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library through April 2020. Review Manager 5.3 software was employed for data synthesis, and Stata 13.0 software was used for analyses of publication bias and sensitivity.
resultsTwenty-nine randomized studies involving 1228 chronic tinnitus patients were included. Compared with sham-rTMS, rTMS exhibited significant improvements in the tinnitus handicap inventory (THI) scores at 1 week (mean difference [MD]: - 7.92, 95% confidence interval [CI]: - 14.18, - 1.66), 1 month (MD: -8.52, 95% CI: - 12.49, - 4.55), and 6 months (MD: -6.53, 95% CI: - 11.406, - 1.66) post intervention; there were significant mean changes in THI scores at 1 month (MD: -14.86, 95% CI: - 21.42, - 8.29) and 6 months (MD: -16.37, 95% CI: - 20.64, - 12.11) post intervention, and the tinnitus questionnaire (TQ) score at 1 week post intervention (MD: -8.54, 95% CI: - 15.56, - 1.52). Nonsignificant efficacy of rTMS was found regarding the THI score 2 weeks post intervention (MD: -1.51, 95% CI: - 13.42, - 10.40); the mean change in TQ scores 1 month post intervention (MD: -3.67, 95% CI: - 8.56, 1.22); TQ scores 1 (MD: -8.97, 95% CI: - 20.41, 2.48) and 6 months (MD: -7.02, 95% CI: - 18.18, 4.13) post intervention; and adverse events (odds ratios [OR]: 1.11, 95% CI: 0.51, 2.42). Egger's and Begg's tests indicated no publication bias (P = 0.925).
conclusionThis meta-analysis demonstrated that rTMS is effective for chronic tinnitus; however, its safety needs more validation. Restrained by the insufficient number of included studies and the small sample size, more large randomized double-blind multi-centre trials are needed for further verification.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.