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Hearing loss impacts fitness, and people with it are more likely to walk slower and have poor balance, study finds
- Scientists conducted tests on American adults with different hearing abilities
- They found that people with severe hearing loss had poorer physical function
- Hearing loss can affect physical functioning by “reduced perception of auditory inputs that contribute to walking and balance,” they say.
Hearing loss can contribute to decreased physical function with aging, a new study has found.
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore assessed whether hearing loss was linked to lower physical ability.
They recruited 2,956 American adults with an average age of 79, all with varying levels of hearing ability ranging from normal to severe hearing loss.
Participants with hearing impairments had significantly lower physical function – especially balance – than those with normal hearing.
They also had poorer walking endurance, as shown by a two-minute walk, and a more rapid decrease in physical function over time.
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Hearing loss was associated with poorer performance, faster decline in physical function, and reduced endurance when walking
The study was led by Pablo Martinez Amezcua, epidemiologist and aging researcher.
But its findings are generally positive, as hearing loss is susceptible to prevention and management, experts suggest.
“The results of this study suggest that, because hearing loss is a common but treatable condition, it may be the target of interventions aimed at slowing the decline in physical function associated with aging,†the authors state.
“The question of whether managing hearing loss could delay the decline in physical function requires further investigation. ”
Physical functioning is extremely important for an independent life – but it tends to decline with age (stock image)
Of the volunteers, 973 (33%) had normal hearing, 1,170 (40%) had mild hearing loss, 692 (23%) moderate hearing loss, and 121 (4%) severe hearing loss.
The researchers said they found stronger evidence of decreased physicality in people with hearing loss, based on a variety of tests.
Physical function, for example, was assessed using the Physical Performance Short Battery (SPPB), which ranks mobility from 0 to 12.
Hearing loss – which affects about two-thirds of adults over 70 – can have an impact affect physical functioning by “reduced perception of auditory inputs that contribute to walking and balance,” they add.
The link between the two factors is therefore less random than initially thought.
But the link between hearing and physical function can also be controlled by reduced cognitive resources, depression, social isolation and “reduced living space, resulting in less physical activity”.
The link between hearing loss and physical function has already been studied – in 2016, researchers found a link between hearing loss and poorer physical function.
However, this study used a small sample size and found no link between hearing loss with lower balance and slower walking speed.
“Studies on the association between hearing loss and walking endurance – the ability to walk longer distances, an early factor associated with disability – are sparse and have inconsistent results,” the team says.
“In this cohort study, hearing loss was associated with poorer performance, faster decline in physical function, and decreased endurance when walking.”
The researchers admitted that their study sample was mostly white, and that the lack of other racial and ethnic groups limits the extent to which they can be generalized to other people.
In addition, only 121 participants had severe hearing loss, which may have reduced the “statistical power” of research to detect physical differences between people with normal hearing and severe hearing loss.
The research was published today in JAMA Network Open.
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