Analysis and Comparison of Clinical Practice Guidelines Regarding Treatment Recommendations for Chronic Tinnitus in Adults: A Systematic Review
BMJ Open
Meijers, S., Stegeman, I., et al. (2023).
BMJ Open, 13(9), e072754.
This systematic review compares and summarizes the recommendations of clinical practice guidelines on the treatment of chronic tinnitus in adults.
None declared
From database inception to June 20, 2023
Clinical practice guidelines. Excludes guidelines for children, evidence reports without recommendations, and comments on existing guidelines.
10
<div>Half of the clinical practice guidelines on the treatment of chronic tinnitus in adults (5/10) recommended or strongly recommended counselling interventions.</div>
<div>The majority of the clinical practice guidelines on the treatment of chronic tinnitus in adults (8/10) made recommendations regarding tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT) as follows:</div>
<ul>
<li>Two guidelines recommended TRT.</li>
<li>Three guidelines provided an open recommendation or option for TRT due to the variability of TRT types.</li>
<li>Three guidelines made no recommendation on TRT due to limited high-quality evidence on the effects of TRT.</li>
</ul>
<div>The majority of the clinical practice guidelines on the treatment of chronic tinnitus in adults (7/10) made recommendations regarding sound therapy as follows:</div>
<ul>
<li>Five guidelines made no recommendation on sound therapy due to a lack of evidence.</li>
<li>Two guidelines recommended sound therapy as an option.</li>
</ul>
<div>The majority of the clinical practice guidelines on the treatment of chronic tinnitus in adults (8/10) made recommendations regarding hearing aids (HA) as follows:</div>
<ul>
<li>Five guidelines recommended the use of HAs in individuals with tinnitus and hearing loss.</li>
<li>One guideline did not recommend the use of HAs due to a lack of evidence on the effects of HAs in individuals with tinnitus and typical hearing.</li>
<li>Two guidelines recommended the use of HAs as an option.</li>
</ul>
<div>Half of the clinical practice guidelines on the treatment of chronic tinnitus in adults (5/10) made recommendations regarding cochlear implantation (CI) as follows:</div>
<ul>
<li>Two guidelines recommended the use of CIs in individuals with tinnitus and severe hearing loss.</li>
<li>Three guidelines did not recommend the use of CIs due to risk of bias of outcomes, lack of evidence of effectiveness for individuals with tinnitus and typical hearing, and the low quality of available evidence.</li>
</ul>
