The clinical efficacy of scalp acupuncture for tinnitus: A systematic review and meta-analysis

IF 3.3 3区医学 Q1 INTEGRATIVE & COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE

Complementary therapies in medicine Pub Date : 2025-01-17 DOI:10.1016/j.ctim.2025.103129

Jiadi Chen, Ruizhi Jing

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

No single treatment is considered to be universally effective for tinnitus. Scalp acupuncture has been explored as a potential treatment.

Objective

This systematic review and meta-analysis aim to evaluate the clinical efficacy of scalp acupuncture in treating tinnitus.

Methods

A comprehensive search of relevant databases was conducted to identify randomized controlled trials comparing scalp acupuncture with a control treatment for tinnitus.The clinical efficacy rate and reduction in tinnitus severity were assessed using relative risk (RR) and standardized mean difference (SMD), respectively. Sensitivity analyses was performed to investigate sources of heterogeneity.

Results

A total of 20 research studies,with 1430 participants,were included.The systematic review and meta-analysis revealed that the scalp acupuncture groups had a significantly higher clinical effective rate compared to the control groups (RR=1.25, 95 % CI 1.16–1.35, p < 0.00001),with low heterogeneity(p = 0.27,I²=20 %).The scalp acupuncture groups and scalp acupuncture plus auxiliary acupoints groups had greater reduction in tinnitus severity compared to the control groups(SMD=-0.76,95 %CI:-1.02,-0.51,p < 0.00001;SMD:-0.93,95 %CI:-1.52,-0.33,p = 0.002, respectively),with a moderate heterogeneity(p = 0.005,I²=62 %) and a significant heterogeneity (p < 0.00001,I²=86 %) observed due to differences in study design, sample characteristics, and intervention protocols.Sensitivity analysis confirmed the stability of the results.The summary table generated through GRADEpro indicated that the certainty of evidence ranged from moderate to low.

Conclusions

Scalp acupuncture has demonstrated promising efficacy in the treatment of tinnitus compared to traditional acupuncture or pharmacotherapy. However, the current evidence is limited due to potential biases and heterogeneity across studies.Future studies should standardize protocols, ensure higher methodological rigor, and explore long-term effects to validate the findings further.

The review was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42024537806):Jiadi Chen, Ruizhi Jing.Analysis of clinical effect of scalp acupuncture on tinnitus. Available

from: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42024537806.

查看原文本刊更多论文

头皮针刺治疗耳鸣的临床疗效：系统回顾和荟萃分析。

背景：没有一种治疗耳鸣的方法被认为是普遍有效的。头皮针灸作为一种潜在的治疗方法已被探索。目的：本系统综述和荟萃分析旨在评价头皮针刺治疗耳鸣的临床疗效。方法：对相关数据库进行全面检索，以确定比较头皮针刺与对照治疗耳鸣的随机对照试验。分别采用相对危险度（RR）和标准化平均差（SMD）评价临床有效率和耳鸣严重程度的降低。进行敏感性分析以调查异质性的来源。结果：共纳入20项研究，1430名受试者。系统评价和荟萃分析显示，头皮针刺组的临床有效率显著高于对照组（RR=1.25, 95 % CI 1.16-1.35, p 2=20 %）。与对照组相比，头皮针刺组和头皮针刺加辅助穴位组耳鸣严重程度的降低更大（SMD=-0.76,95 %CI:-1.02,-0.51,p 2=62 %），由于研究设计、样本特征和干预方案的差异，观察到显著的异质性（p 2=86 %）。敏感性分析证实了结果的稳定性。通过GRADEpro生成的汇总表显示，证据的确定性从中等到低不等。结论：头皮针刺治疗耳鸣较传统针刺或药物治疗有较好的疗效。然而，由于潜在的偏倚和研究的异质性，目前的证据是有限的。未来的研究应使方案标准化，确保更高的方法严谨性，并探索长期影响以进一步验证研究结果。该综述已在普洛斯彼罗注册（CRD42024537806）：陈佳迪，景瑞智。头皮针刺治疗耳鸣的临床疗效分析。可从：https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42024537806。

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来源期刊

Complementary therapies in medicine 医学-全科医学与补充医学

CiteScore

8.60

自引率

2.80%

发文量

101

审稿时长

112 days

期刊介绍： Complementary Therapies in Medicine is an international, peer-reviewed journal that has considerable appeal to anyone who seeks objective and critical information on complementary therapies or who wishes to deepen their understanding of these approaches. It will be of particular interest to healthcare practitioners including family practitioners, complementary therapists, nurses, and physiotherapists; to academics including social scientists and CAM researchers; to healthcare managers; and to patients. Complementary Therapies in Medicine aims to publish valid, relevant and rigorous research and serious discussion articles with the main purpose of improving healthcare.