Evidence synthesis of tinnitus treatment methods: An umbrella review

We collated and evaluated evidence from meta-analyses and systematic reviews on tinnitus treatment to establish a reference for clinical decision-making in tinnitus management.

Major medical databases such as CNKI, PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library were searched. Literature on systematic review/meta-analysis of evidence of tinnitus treatment was collected without reference language restrictions. The methodological quality, reporting quality, and evidence quality of the included studies were assessed using the Assessing the Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews 2 (AMSTAR-2), the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) checklist, and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) tool, respectively.

In the end, a total of 48 out of 2642 screened publications met the eligibility criteria. The primary treatment modalities included tinnitus counseling, cognitive behavioral therapy, auditory therapy, tinnitus retraining therapy and pharmacotherapy. We analyzed seven treatment approaches, among which three demonstrated definitive efficacy while four showed probable efficacy.

The primary objective of this systematic review was to synthesize and critically evaluate evidence-based data on tinnitus treatment derived from multiple meta-analyses and systematic reviews, while also assessing methodological quality, reporting quality, and evidence quality of the included studies. Our study consolidated the most recent evidence-based findings on various tinnitus treatments to guide clinical decision-making in tinnitus management.