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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Neurosci.
Sec. Auditory Cognitive Neuroscience
Volume 19 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnins.2025.1579846
This article is part of the Research Topic Tinnitus in relation to auditory processing: Unravelling Complex Relationships View all articles
Efficacy of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for subjective chronic tinnitus: a randomized controlled trial meta-analysis
Provisionally accepted- 1 Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
- 2 Mianyang Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Mianyang City, Sichuan Province, China
Objective: Chronic tinnitus affects approximately 10-15% of the population. The long-term presence of severe tinnitus significantly impacts affected individuals' quality of life and emotional state.Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a non-invasive technique that employs pulsed magnetic fields to modulate neural activity. rTMS is considered a promising treatment strategy for chronic tinnitus. However, the therapeutic effect of rTMS on subjective chronic tinnitus remains inconclusive, and its validity is still a subject of debate among researchers.To identify RCTs investigating rTMS for subjective chronic tinnitus, a comprehensive computerized search was conducted across multiple databases, including PubMed, The Cochrane Library, Embase, Web of Science, China Knowledge, WIPO, Wanfang, and the China Biomedical Literature Database (CBM). The search timeframe spanned from the inception of each database to June 2, 2024. Two independent investigators performed literature screening, data extraction, and quality assessment using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Assessment Tool. Meta-analysis was conducted using RevMan 5.4 software.Results: Sixteen randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving 1105 chronic tinnitus patients were included. RTMS was superior to Sham rTMS in THI and VAS and had a positive effect on the shortterm impact of THI(1 month), Still, this meta-analysis did not observe a positive effect of rTMS on the long-term implications of tinnitus (6 months). rTMS had no significant immediate effect on TQ and LM scores on tinnitus questionnaires. This meta-analysis demonstrated that rTMS has some efficacy in chronic tinnitus.However, more RCTs are needed to validate its effectiveness, to support the effectiveness of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for tinnitus with larger sample sizes and more follow-up data, and to explore the potential benefits of rTMS in chronic tinnitus.
Keywords: repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, rTMS, chronic tinnitus, metaanalysis, randomized controlled trial
Received: 19 Feb 2025; Accepted: 01 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 He, Liao, Ji, Yan and AI. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Shuangchun AI, Mianyang Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Mianyang City, Sichuan Province, China
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