This clinical study is prospective, single-center, randomized, controlled, double-blind clinical trail, which entitled transcranial electrical stimulation for the treatment of acute tinnitus approved by Sun Yat-sen University, and intends to recruit 86 patients with sudden deafness and tinnitus. For acute subjective tinnitus, a common otological disease, the study gave the experimental group patients received tDCS with electrodes positioned over the left temporal cortex for 5 days. To assess the efficacy of conventional medical therapy and tDCS by comparing changes in anterior and posterior tinnitus-related subjective scale scores, such as THI, VAS, BAI, BDI, PSQI, and hearing recovery, in patients who received tDCS, to determine whether tDCS is effective in improving acute tinnitus, and whether it is superior to conventional tinnitus treatment. In addition, the study will continue to follow patients for 1 month,3 months, and 6 months after the end of treatment to observe the long-term sustained efficacy of tDCS. This clinical trail will also evaluate tDCS from the perspective of compliance and safety, and explore the factors affecting the efficacy of this therapy.
Sample size estimation: On-site recruitment will be conducted in the otolaryngology clinic for eligible patients with sudden deafness and tinnitus, with dedicated personnel to recruit subjects, with a total of at least 86 expected recruitment. In order to retain subjects, staff will tell them about the benefits of inclusion in clinical studies for sudden deafness with tinnitus, and actively add subjects' contact information to provide relevant consulting services for subjects during clinical studies. During follow-up, participants will be provided with a free tinnitus-related assessment test to motivate. Plan for missing data： Screening failure, i.e. subjects did not meet the inclusion and exclusion criteria, or subjects withdrew informed consent, among other things for reasons why it was not included in this clinical study. Study subjects who failed to screen will be pressed according to their own condition Provide appropriate treatment according to clinical guidelines. This subset of subjects will not be included in clinical studies. Statistical analysis plan: When considering the influence of baseline, the continuous variables were analyzed by covariance analysis, and the qualitative indicators were tested by CMH test or logistic regression. Primary analysis： Using covariance analysis to compare the different changes of THI scores between two groups after 5 days treatment, controlled for age and baseline THI. Secondary analysis： Using covariance analysis to compare the different changes of VAS, BAI, BDI, PSQI scores between two groups after 5 days treatment, controlled for age and baseline values corresponding to each scale. Using a repeated measure ANOVA to compare the different changes of THI, VAS, BAI, BDI, PSQI between two groups at 1, 3 and 6 follow-up visits. Using Chi square test or Fisher exact test to compare the different efficient rate between two groups after 5 days treatment. Exploratory analysis: Using multiple linear regression analysis to explore the factors affecting the short-term and long -term efficacy of the two treatments, such as age, hearing loss threshold, tinnitus loudness, tinnitus frequency and so on. Using Independent two sample t-test or nonparametric analysis to compare the differences in EEG- or fMRI-related indicators between two groups. Safety analysis: Using Pearson's chi-square test to compare the difference of adverse event incidence rate between two groups.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
QUADRUPLE
Enrollment
86
Equipment used: Bricon tDCS stimulator, high-precision electrode stimulation method Stimulant dose: 1.5mA Stimulation time: 20 minutes/time, continuous treatment for 5 days Stimulation course: 5 days/course Stimulation target: left auditory cortex area, i.e., under system 10-20, left T3 position.
By controlling the tDCS stimulator to mimic only the first 30 seconds of tDCS stimulation, after 30 seconds of pathway resistance control, so that the stimulation intensity is below the threshold, without giving real stimulation, in this process, the position of the stimulation target is not changed, and the rest of the operation is the same.
Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital
Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
RECRUITINGChanges in Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) scores for short-term efficacy assessment
Difference in the change of THI scores between two groups after 5 days treatment. The THI evaluates the severity of tinnitus in terms of emotion and function. The global scores of THI range from 0 (no disability) to 100 (serve disability).
Time frame: From baseline to after 5 days treatment
Changes in scores of Visual Analog Scale (VAS) for short-term efficacy assessment
Difference in the change of VAS scores between two groups after 5 days treatment. The total VAS scores range from 0 (negligible) to 10 (too noisy to tolerate), reflecting the loudness of tinnitus patients feel.
Time frame: From baseline to after 5 days treatment
Changes in scores of Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) for short-term efficacy assessment
Difference in the change of BAI scores between two groups after 5 days treatment. The total BAI scores range from 0 (normal) to 63 (serve anxiety), reflecting the degree of anxiety.
Time frame: From baseline to after 5 days treatment
Changes in scores of Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) for short-term efficacy assessment
Difference in the change of BDI scores between two groups after 5 days treatment. The total BDI scores range from 0 (normal) to 63 (serve depression), reflecting the degree of depression.
Time frame: From baseline to after 5 days treatment
Changes in scores of Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) for short-term efficacy assessment
Difference in the change of PSQI scores between two groups after 5 days treatment. The total PSQI scores range from 0 (sleep well) to 21 (quite poor sleep), reflecting the sleep quality.
Time frame: From baseline to after 5 days treatment
Changes of Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) scores in the two groups for long-term efficacy assessment
Difference in changes of THI between two groups from 1-month follow-up visit to 6-month follow-up visit. The THI evaluates the severity of tinnitus in terms of emotion and function. The global scores of THI range from 0 (no disability) to 100 (serve disability).
Time frame: From 1-month follow-up visit to 6-month follow-up visit
Changes of Visual Analog Scale (VAS) scores in the two groups for long-term efficacy assessment
Difference in changes of VAS between two groups from 1-month follow-up visit to 6-month follow-up visit. The total VAS scores range from 0 (negligible) to 10 (too noisy to tolerate), reflecting the loudness of tinnitus patients feel.
Time frame: From 1-month follow-up visit to 6-month follow-up visit
Changes of Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) scores in the two groups for long-term efficacy assessment
Difference in changes of BAI between two groups from 1-month follow-up visit to 6-month follow-up visit. The total BAI scores range from 0 (normal) to 63 (serve anxiety), reflecting the degree of anxiety.
Time frame: From 1-month follow-up visit to 6-month follow-up visit
Changes of Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scores in the two groups for long-term efficacy assessment
Difference in changes of PSQI between two groups from 1-month follow-up visit to 6-month follow-up visit. The total BDI scores range from 0 (normal) to 63 (serve depression), reflecting the degree of depression.
Time frame: From 1-month follow-up visit to 6-month follow-up visit
Changes of Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) scores in the two groups for long-term efficacy assessment
Difference in changes of PSQI between two groups from 1-month follow-up visit to 6-month follow-up visit. The total PSQI scores range from 0 (sleep well) to 21 (quite poor sleep), reflecting the sleep quality.
Time frame: From 1-month follow-up visit to 6-month follow-up visit
The effective rate of relieving sudden deafness with tinnitus in the two groups
Group effective rate = number of patients in each group who completed 5 days of treatment and whose THI score decreased by ≥ 7 points / number of patients in each group who completed 5 days of treatment.
Time frame: From baseline to after 5 days treatment
The difference of functional connectivity based on resting state electroencephalogram (EEG) between the two groups
The difference of functional connectivity based on resting state electroencephalogram (EEG) in the two groups from 1-month follow-up visit to 6-month follow-up visit. The functional connectivity is defined as the correlation between two different brain regions based on coherence or phase synchronization.
Time frame: From 1-month follow-up visit to 6-month follow-up visit
The difference of effective connectivity based on resting state electroencephalogram (EEG) between the two groups
The difference of effective connectivity based on resting state electroencephalogram (EEG) in the two groups from 1-month follow-up visit to 6-month follow-up visit. The effective connectivity is defined as the directed functional connectivity between two brain regions based on granger causality analysis.
Time frame: From 1-month follow-up visit to 6-month follow-up visit
The difference of functional connectivity based on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) between the two groups
The difference of functional connectivity based on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in the two groups from 1-month follow-up visit to 6-month follow-up visit. The functional connectivity is defined as the Pearson's correlation between two different brain regions.
Time frame: From 1-month follow-up visit to 6-month follow-up visit
The difference of effective connectivity based on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) between the two groups
The difference of effective connectivity based on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in the two groups from 1-month follow-up visit to 6-month follow-up visit. The effective connectivity is defined as the directed functional connectivity between two brain regions based on granger causality analysis.
Time frame: From 1-month follow-up visit to 6-month follow-up visit
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