Steven Rauch of the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues from Singapore and the United States conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis that found that hearing loss is associated with a significantly increased risk of falls. The study included data from 27 publications, adjusted for confounding factors, from PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library. Collectively, they contained information on nearly 5.1 million people (49.2 percent women) from Asia, North America, Europe, and Australia. The analysis was performed using random-effects models. The results were published in JAMA Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery.
Participants with hearing loss were found to have an increased cross-sectional fall rate (odds ratio 1.51) and longitudinal risk (odds ratio 1.17) compared to individuals with normal hearing. Additional subgroup and risk factor analyses confirmed the significance of these findings. Thus, hearing loss may be a potential modifiable risk factor for falls, but randomized clinical trials are needed to confirm this, the authors conclude.
