RP205 - Use of Hearing Aids to Predict Fall Risk in Elderly Patients with Hearing Loss

Injuries resulting from falls have a profound impact on health outcomes and quality of life in the elderly.  Recently, an association between hearing loss and an increased risk of falling was observed.  For individuals with hearing loss, a common treatment is the use of hearing aids.  Here we demonstrate that hearing aids equipped with embedded motion sensors 1) provided similar ratings to trained observers on the STEADI protocol for assessment of fall risk, and 2) provide useful estimates about the gait of individuals wearing these devices. These results suggest that hearing aids may eventually aid in assessment of fall risk. 

Summary:

Injuries resulting from falls have a profound impact on health outcomes and quality of life in elderly patients.  In recent years, an association between hearing loss and an increased risk of falling has been observed.  For individuals with hearing loss, the most common treatment is the use of hearing aids.  This raises the question of whether hearing aids that are equipped with motion sensors could aid in the identification of patients at risk for falling.  Here we addressed this issue by testing over 200 participants on the ‘Stopping Elderly Accidents, Deaths, and Injuries’ (STEADI) protocol.  In this test battery, participants complete three measures:  the 4-Stage Balance test, the 30-second Chair Stand, and the ‘Timed Up and Go’. These measures assess the ability of participants to balance, to stand from a seated position, and to walk a short distance in a specified amount of time.  In this study, each individual was tested while wearing bilateral hearing aids equipped with embedded motion sensors.  The data from these hearing aids was then fed to a phone application which interpreted the information and provided an output on each measure of the STEADI protocol.   The output from the hearing aid application was compared to ratings provided by three observers trained to administer the STEADI protocol. Our results show a strong correspondence between the hearing aid application and trained observers across all three measures.  Specifically, on the 4-stage balance test, we observed agreement between the trained observers and the hearing aid application.  On the ’30-second Chair Stand’ measure, we observed a small but significant difference in the number of stands counted by the trained observers and the hearing aid application (~ 0.8 stand difference).  Finally, we observed a very close correspondence on the ‘Timed Up and Go’ test between the observers and the hearing aid application, with the caveat that the application failed to record a response on approximately 12% of participants.  Taken together, these data show good correspondence between trained observers and a hearing aid application on the STEADI protocol, suggesting that hearing aids have the potential to aid in the identification of individuals at risk for falling.