A new study published in The Lancet Public Health finds that providing hearing aids to seniors, along with family counselling, can reduce the risk of falls by nearly 30% over three years.
Falls are a significant health concern for older adults, frequently resulting in injuries and a decline in quality of life. Previous studies have linked hearing loss to an increased risk of falls, alongside factors such as declining mobility, cognitive skills, and physiological responses.
Researchers from Edinburgh Napier University in the UK conducted a randomised controlled trial, known as the ACHIEVE trial, involving 977 adults aged 70–84 in the US. All participants had untreated hearing loss but did not have substantial cognitive impairment.
Also Read | Exercise beats drugs in boosting colon cancer survival, shows study
While half of the participants received hearing aids and counselling for family members, the other half were provided with only health education.
After three years, participants who received hearing interventions experienced an average of 1.45 falls, compared to 1.98 falls in the control group. This represents a 27 per cent reduction in falls, the study found.
“The intervention group had a 27% reduction in the mean number of falls over three years compared with the control group,” the study authors noted.
The ACHIEVE trial is the first large-scale, randomised, controlled trial to explore the potential impact of hearing interventions on falls.
Meanwhile, a separate study published in The Evidence journal in March 2024 highlighted that 11.43% of older adults in India (aged 60 and above) experienced falls, based on data from the Longitudinal Ageing Study of India collected between 2017 and 2019. Chronic conditions, vision problems, and self-reported poor health emerged as key risk factors. Notably, women faced a 31% higher risk of falling compared to men, the study found.
