RT Journal
A1 Lin FR, Ferrucci L
T1 HEaring loss and falls among older adults in the united states
JF Archives of Internal Medicine
JO Archives of Internal Medicine
YR 2012
FD February 27
VO 172
IS 4
SP 369
OP 371
DO 10.1001/archinternmed.2011.728
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archinternmed.2011.728
AB 
Identifying modifiable risk factors for falls in older adults is of significant public health importance. While hearing is not typically considered a risk factor for falls, a recent report of a cohort of older Finnish female twins demonstrated a strong association between audiometric hearing loss and incident falls.1 Possible pathways that could explain this observed association include comcomitant cochlear and vestibular dysfunction, poor awareness of the auditory and spatial environment, or mediation through the effects of hearing loss on cognitive load and shared attention. The latter 2 pathways, which suggest a possible causal pathway between hearing loss and falling, are intriguing because hearing loss is highly prevalent but remains vastly undertreated in older adults.2- 3 The objective of this current study was to investigate the cross-sectional association of audiometric hearing loss with self-reported falls in a representative sample of the United States population aged 40 to 69 years who participated in the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES).