Abstract
Objective: To compare fall statistics (e.g. incidence, prevalence), fall risks, and characteristics of patients who seek hearing healthcare from an audiologist to individuals who have not sought such services. Design: Case-control study. Study sample: Two groups of community-dwelling older adult patients: 25 audiology patients aged 60 years or older (M age: 69.2 years, SD: 4.5, range: 61–77) and a control group (gender- and age-matched ±2 years) of 25 non-audiology patients (M age: 69.6, SD: 4.7, range: 60–77). Results: Annual incidence of falls (most recent 12 months) was higher in audiology patients (68.0%) than non-audiology patients (28.0%; p =.005). Audiology patients reported a higher incidence of multiple recent falls (p =.025) and more chronic health conditions (p =.028) than non-audiology patients. Conclusions: Significantly more audiology patients fall on an annual basis than non-audiology patients, suggesting that falls are a pervasive issue in general hearing clinics. Further action on the part of healthcare professionals providing audiologic services may be necessary to identify individuals at risk for falling.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 564-570 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | International Journal of Audiology |
Volume | 55 |
Issue number | 10 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Oct 2 2016 |
Keywords
- Audiology
- balance
- fall risk
- hearing
- older adults
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Language and Linguistics
- Linguistics and Language
- Speech and Hearing