SynthesisThe Journal of international medical research2021
An updated meta-analysis: repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for treating tinnitus.
Synthesis in The Journal of international medical research, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
12 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- Neuromodulation for Subjective Tinnitus: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Trials.The Laryngoscope · 2026Pooled it
- Efficacy of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for subjective chronic tinnitus: a randomized controlled trial meta-analysis.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2025Pooled it
- Efficacy of non-invasive neuromodulation for chronic tinnitus: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery · 2026Review
- Tinnitus.Nature reviews. Disease primers · 2026Review
- Case Report: Repeated courses of low-frequency rTMS for refractory tinnitus: an N-of-1 study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- The Current State of Tinnitus Diagnosis and Treatment: a Multidisciplinary Expert Perspective.Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology : JARO · 2024Review
- Unresolved Issues Associated with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) Treatment of Chronic Tinnitus.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Review
- Personalization of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for the Treatment of Chronic Subjective Tinnitus.Brain sciences · 2022Article
- Experience of tinnitus in adults who have severe-to-profound hearing loss: A scoping review.Frontiers in neurology · 2022Article
- 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
- Case Report: Low-Frequency Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation to Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex and Auditory Cortex in a Patient With Tinnitus and Depression.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Article
- The Pathological Mechanisms and Treatments of Tinnitus.Discoveries (Craiova, Romania)Review
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 at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo undertake an updated meta-analysis to obtain more evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to assess the effect of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) for the treatment of tinnitus.
methodsPubMed®, Embase®, Web of Science, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, CBM, CNKI and Wanfang were searched for RCTs from inception up to March 2020. Studies meeting the eligibility criteria were included in the meta-analysis. The mean difference was calculated and the effect size was evaluated using a
resultsThe analysis included 12 randomized sham-controlled clinical trials with a total of 717 participants. Active rTMS was superior to sham rTMS in terms of the short-term and long-term effects (6 months) on the tinnitus handicap inventory scores, but an immediate effect was not significant. There was no significant immediate effect on the tinnitus questionnaire (TQ) and Beck depression inventory (BDI) scores.
conclusionsThis meta-analysis demonstrated that rTMS improved tinnitus-related symptoms, but the TQ and BDI scores demonstrated little immediate benefit. Future research should be undertaken on large samples in multi-centre settings with longer follow-up durations.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.