In honor of Fall Prevention Awareness Day this Sunday, we are taking this space to raise awareness of falls—the leading cause of injury for adults ages 65 years and older—their connection to untreated hearing loss, and how today’s hearing aids can go above and beyond to help reduce our risk of falling.
After all, falls can occur with anyone, anywhere, and anytime in daily life. Fortunately, being proactive with our hearing health can help keep us safer while maintaining our autonomy. Read on to find out how.
Untreated hearing loss can increase risk of falls
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 4 older adults report falling each year—that’s over 14 million people. Unfortunately, the likelihood of falls increases as we get older, and one common contributor may surprise you—untreated hearing loss.
Yes, you read that correctly: Studies prove that untreated hearing loss can increase the risk of falls by 30%. And the more severe our hearing loss is, the more our chances of falling increase.
So, what exactly is the connection between hearing loss and the loss of balance, anyway?
If you have hearing loss, your brain must work a lot harder to help you hear and decipher conversation, leaving “less cognitive resources available” to assist as you navigate through different environments, according to lead UCHealth researcher and audiologist Laura Campos.
In other words, untreated hearing loss can make us much less aware of our surroundings, resulting in tripping, falling, or worse.
Good news—hearing aids can reduce odds of falling
Let’s hear it for silver linings: Wearing hearing aids can reduce our risk of falling by 50%, per a recent study led by Campos and published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
The study focused on individuals with hearing loss aged 60 and older. Researchers compared the prevalence of falls and fall risk between hearing aid wearers and non-hearing aid wearers. The same factors were also evaluated between a separate group of consistent hearing aid wearers (who used the devices at least 4 hours per day) and inconsistent/non-hearing aid wearers.
Compared to non-hearing aid wearers, participants who wore hearing aids had a 50% decreased likelihood of falling. Moreover, the people who wore hearing aids a minimum of 4 hours a day had up to 65% lower odds of experiencing a fall.
These results go to show that treating hearing loss through hearing aids not only can improve our hearing—but also our safety.
Starkey hearing aids and app can detect falls, text for help
Indeed, hearing aids can help make us more mindful of our surroundings, but only Starkey makes hearing aids that go one step further to assist us with staying safe and independent.
Starkey is the only hearing aid manufacturer to develop hearing aids with sensors that can detect if we fall. Furthermore, if you connect these innovative devices to the My Starkey hearing aid app*, the app will automatically send a text message with details on your fall plus a map of your location to the emergency contact of your choice. (Or if no help is needed, you can cancel the alert, too.) This safety feature is known as Fall Alert.
Learn all about Fall Alert in this bite-size Starkey Feature Attraction video:
To set up Fall Alert on your My Starkey app, follow this short instructional video:
(Note: Fall Alert is part of the My Starkey app. So, if you haven’t connected the app with your hearing aids* yet, follow these easy, step-by-step instructions now.)
Professionals can help you achieve greater hearing and awareness
There is no better time than this Fall Prevention Awareness Day to take control of your hearing health—and overall wellbeing—by scheduling a hearing evaluation with a licensed hearing care professional.
They will be happy to guide you through a simple, pain-free hearing test and the best next steps for your hearing needs. Simply type your zip code in here to find a list of providers near you.
Remember—much like our safety, better hearing is priceless. With the help of hearing aids, we can achieve even greater life moments, independence, and peace of mind into the future.