Division of Otology, Neurotology, and Skull Base Surgery, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY 10032, USA.
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stevens Institute of Technology, School of Engineering & Science, Hoboken, NJ 07030, USA.
Sensors (Basel). 2021 Jan 4;21(1):278. doi: 10.3390/s21010278.
Hearing loss is a disabling condition that increases with age and has been linked to difficulties in walking and increased risk of falls. The purpose of this study is to investigate changes in gait parameters associated with hearing loss in a group of older adults aged 60 or greater. Custom-engineered footwear was used to collect spatiotemporal gait data in an outpatient clinical setting. Multivariable linear regression was used to determine the relationship between spatiotemporal gait parameters and high and low frequency hearing thresholds of the poorer hearing ear, the left ear, and the right ear, respectively, adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, and the Dizziness Handicap Inventory-Screening version score. Worsening high and low frequency hearing thresholds were associated with increased variability in double support period. Effects persisted after adjusting for the effects of age and perceived vestibular disability and were greater for increases in hearing thresholds for the right ear compared to the left ear. These findings illustrate the importance of auditory feedback for balance and coordination and may suggest a right ear advantage for the influence of auditory feedback on gait.
听力损失是一种致残状况，随着年龄的增长而增加，并且与行走困难和跌倒风险增加有关。本研究的目的是调查与听力损失相关的步态参数在一组 60 岁或以上的老年人中的变化。定制工程鞋用于在门诊临床环境中收集时空步态数据。多变量线性回归用于确定时空步态参数与较差听力耳（左耳和右耳）的高频和低频听力阈值之间的关系，分别调整年龄、性别、种族/民族和头晕障碍筛查版评分。高频和低频听力阈值的恶化与双支撑期变异性增加有关。在调整年龄和感知前庭障碍的影响后，这些影响仍然存在，并且对于右耳听力阈值的增加比对左耳听力阈值的增加更为明显。这些发现说明了听觉反馈对平衡和协调的重要性，并且可能表明右耳对听觉反馈对步态的影响具有优势。
