Is there a higher prevalence of tinnitus in patients with temporomandibular disorders? A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Summary The aim of this study was to determine whether there exists a higher prevalence of tinnitus in patients with temporomandibular disorders ( TMD s) than in patients without TMD s. A systematic review was conducted in PubMed/ MEDLINE for articles published between January 1992 and April 2018 in accordance with the PRISMA statement. Studies were included in this review only if they assessed TMD s using the research diagnostic criteria ( RDC )/ TMD or DC / TMD . A total of five studies were included in the systematic review, and a random‐effects meta‐analysis of three of the studies was conducted. In all of the selected studies, the prevalence of tinnitus was higher in patients with TMD s (35.8% to 60.7%) than in patients without TMD s (9.7% to 26.0%). The odds ratio of suffering from tinnitus among patients with TMD s was 4.45 (95% CI 1.64‐12.11. P = 0.003). Thus, despite the limitations of the included studies, this review demonstrates that the prevalence of tinnitus in TMD patients is significantly higher than that in patients without TMD .