Hearing Loss Linked to Falling

A study led by Johns Hopkins researchers suggests that having hearing loss triples the risk of falling for people in their 40s and later, regardless of whether the hearing loss is moderate or severe.
To determine whether hearing loss and falls are connected, researchers used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
From 2001 to 2004, 2,017 patients aged 40 to 69 had their hearing tested and answered questions about whether they had fallen over the past year.
The researchers found that people with mild hearing loss (25dB) were nearly three times more likely to have a history of falling.
Even worse, every additional 10dB of hearing loss increased the chances of falling by 1.4 times.
The finding still held true even when researchers accounted for other factors linked with falling, including age, sex, race, heart disease and vestibular function. Even excluding participants with moderate to severe hearing loss from the analysis didn’t change the results.
Frank Lin, MD, PhD, an assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, an otologist and epidemiologist, says that among the possible explanations for the link is that people who can’t hear well may not have good awareness of their overall environment, making tripping and falling more likely.
Another reason hearing loss might increase the risk of falls, Lin adds, is cognitive load, in which the brain is overwhelmed with demands on its limited resources.
“Gait and balance are things most people take for granted, but they are actually very cognitively demanding,” Lin Says. “If hearing loss imposes a cognitive load, there may be fewer cognitive resources to help with maintaining balance and gait.”
For more information on hearing loss and how it can affect you, contact Ron Kittner of Miracle-Ear Hearing Aid Center in North Cape May at 609-889-2900.