Hearing aids could reduce risk of falling in seniors with hearing loss, study says

BOSTON - There may be an easy way for seniors with hearing loss to reduce their risk of falling - hearing aids.

Many older adults are terrified of falling because it can lead to significant disability and sometimes death. Those with hearing loss are almost two-and-a-half times more likely to fall than their normal hearing peers, but hearing aids may help.

Researchers at the University of Colorado found that adults with mild hearing loss who wore hearing aids cut their odds of falling in half, by even more if they used their hearing aids at least four hours a day. Scientists said our ability to hear, especially at high frequencies, tells us where we are in space and where objects are around us, in other words, echolocation.

In:
• Health
• Senior Citizens

Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.

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