ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Psychological Therapy and Psychosomatics
Effect of Electroacupuncture Combined with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on Depression and Quality of Life in Patients with Chronic Tinnitus and Depression: A Retrospective Cohort Analysis
Provisionally accepted
- 1The Second Hospital of Longyan, Longyan, China
- 2Nantong Tumor Hospital, Nantong, China
- 3Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital of Lu'an City, Lu'an, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Purpose: This retrospective cohort study investigated the association between electroacupuncture combined with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and improvements in depression, anxiety, and quality of life in patients with chronic tinnitus and comorbid depression. The integration of somatic and psychological interventions may offer clinical advantages over monotherapy, given the multidimensional nature of tinnitus-related psychological burden. Methods: A retrospective cohort analysis was conducted using clinical data from 251 patients who received either electroacupuncture alone (n=114) or electroacupuncture combined with CBT (n=137) at our institution between January and December 2023. Patients were assessed using the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory, auditory threshold testing, Self-Rating Depression Scale, Self-Rating Anxiety Scale, European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Core Questionnaire, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and a treatment effectiveness assessment. Linear mixed-effects models were employed to handle missing data and account for repeated measures. Results: The combined intervention was associated with significantly greater reductions in depressive symptoms at 4, 8, and 12 weeks compared to electroacupuncture alone (23.5% vs. 15.8% at 12 weeks, P < 0.05, 95% CI: 2.8–12.6, Cohen’s d: 0.34). Additionally, the combination therapy demonstrated greater reductions in anxiety symptoms (19.3% vs. 12.4% at 12 weeks), improved quality of life (26.7% vs. 18.2% improvement), and enhanced sleep quality (34.2% vs. 24.5% improvement) at the specified time points (P < 0.01). The combination therapy was associated with a higher total effective rate (78.83%) compared to electroacupuncture alone (65.79%) (P = 0.030, 95% CI: 1.2–24.9, Cohen’s h: 0.29). Conclusion: In this retrospective analysis, the integrated approach of electroacupuncture combined with CBT was associated with improvements in depression, anxiety, quality of life, and sleep quality in patients with chronic tinnitus and comorbid depression. These findings suggest that integrated therapeutic approaches may warrant further investigation through prospective randomized controlled trials to establish standardized pathways for addressing comorbid psychological issues in chronic tinnitus patients. The observational nature of this study limits causal inference, and validation in culturally diverse populations is needed.
Keywords: chronic tinnitus, cognitive behavioral therapy, Depression, Electroacupuncture, Quality of Life, Retrospective cohort
Received: 21 Oct 2025; Accepted: 21 Jan 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Xie, Qiang, Que and Wu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Gang Wu
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.