School of Medicine, University of Colorado-Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado, USA.
Clinical Sciences, University of Colorado-Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado, USA.
J Am Geriatr Soc. 2023 Oct;71(10):3163-3171. doi: 10.1111/jgs.18461. Epub 2023 Jun 14.
Falls and their sequelae cost more than $50 billion every year. Older adults with hearing loss are at 2.4 times greater risk of falls than their normal hearing peers. Current research is inconclusive about whether hearing aids can offset this increased fall risk, and no previous studies considered if outcomes differed based on the consistency of hearing aid use.
Individuals 60 years and older with bilateral hearing loss completed a survey consisting of the Fall Risk Questionnaire (FRQ) and questions about hearing loss history, hearing aid use, and other common fall risk factors. In this cross-sectional study, fall prevalence, as well as fall risk (based on FRQ score), was compared between hearing aid users and non-users. A separate group of consistent hearing-aid users (at least 4 h daily use for more than 1 year) was also compared with inconsistent/non-users.
Responses from 299 surveys were analyzed. Bivariate analysis found 50% reduced odds of experiencing a fall for hearing aid users compared with non-users (OR = 0.50 [95% CI: 0.29-0.85], p = 0.01). After adjusting for age, sex, hearing loss severity, and medication usage, those who reported any hearing aid use still had lower odds of falls (OR = 0.48 [95% CI: 0.26-0.90], p = 0.02) and lower odds of being at risk for falls (OR = 0.36 [95% CI: 0.19-0.66] p < 0.001) than non-users. Results for consistent hearing aid users demonstrate an even stronger association of lowered odds of falling (OR = 0.35 [95% CI: 0.19-0.67], p < 0.001) and lower odds of being at risk for falls (OR = 0.32 [95% CI: 0.12-0.59], p < 0.001), suggesting a potential dose-response relationship.
These findings suggest that use of hearing aids-especially consistent hearing aid use-is associated with lower odds of experiencing a fall or being classified as at risk for falls in older individuals with hearing loss.
跌倒及其后果每年造成的损失超过 500 亿美元。听力损失的老年人跌倒的风险比听力正常的同龄人高 2.4 倍。目前的研究对于助听器是否可以降低这种增加的跌倒风险尚无定论，并且以前的研究没有考虑是否根据助听器使用的一致性来判断结果是否不同。
年龄在 60 岁及以上、双侧听力损失的个体完成了一项包含跌倒风险问卷（FRQ）和听力损失史、助听器使用情况以及其他常见跌倒风险因素的调查。在这项横断面研究中，比较了助听器使用者和非使用者之间的跌倒发生率以及跌倒风险（基于 FRQ 评分）。还比较了一组单独的持续使用助听器的人（每天至少使用 4 小时，持续 1 年以上）与非使用者或不规律使用者。
对 299 份调查问卷的回复进行了分析。双变量分析发现，与非使用者相比，助听器使用者发生跌倒的几率降低了 50%（OR=0.50[95%CI：0.29-0.85]，p=0.01）。在调整年龄、性别、听力损失严重程度和药物使用后，报告有任何助听器使用的人发生跌倒的几率仍然较低（OR=0.48[95%CI：0.26-0.90]，p=0.02），发生跌倒风险的几率也较低（OR=0.36[95%CI：0.19-0.66]，p<0.001）。持续使用助听器者的结果表明，跌倒的几率降低（OR=0.35[95%CI：0.19-0.67]，p<0.001）和发生跌倒风险的几率降低（OR=0.32[95%CI：0.12-0.59]，p<0.001）的关联更强，表明存在潜在的剂量反应关系。
这些发现表明，在听力损失的老年人中，使用助听器，尤其是持续使用助听器，与跌倒发生率降低或被归类为跌倒风险增加的可能性较低有关。
