Academy Research Conference 2022: Age-Related Hearing and Balance Decline

By Karen P. Steel and Judy R. Dubno

This article is a part of the July/August 2022, Volume 34, Number 4, Audiology Today issue. 

Progressive hearing loss is associated with risk of cognitive decline and dementia, and reduced vestibular function increases the risk of falls, so these topics demand increased attention. ARC 2022 was intended to assist audiologists in building a strong knowledge base of the causes and consequences of loss of auditory and vestibular function with age. The program was designed to present state-of-the-art research findings discussed by researchers and clinicians working at the frontiers of this field.

The morning session included talks about the social and economic costs, the broad impact of hearing and balance decline on individuals and health disparities related to race/ethnicity and socioeconomic position, the benefits of using suprathreshold measures of auditory function and new tools for administering these measures, and the importance of comprehensive care and a multidisciplinary-care-team approach for older adults with hearing and balance dysfunction. 

The afternoon presenters focused on more in-depth discussion and on the wide range of pathologies underlying age-related declines in hearing and balance, how these fundamental differences in inner-ear pathology between individuals might be distinguished to allow better development and selection of treatments, some insights into the molecular basis of hearing loss, and the prospects for developing targeted therapies for inner ear diseases. 

Two general discussion sessions allowed further consideration of many additional points raised by the audience including how to integrate audiological services into a more holistic service provision for people as they age, whether hearing loss and dementia have a common cause or if improved use of hearing aids might reduce the risk of dementia, why balance is often overlooked and whether improved methods of assessing balance dysfunction could be used more widely, the potential role of audiologists in developing and delivering improved diagnostic tools to determine the site-of-lesion within the cochlea, and whether current advances in gene therapy as a treatment for specific forms of genetic hearing loss might be broadened in scope to benefit a wider population with hearing and balance problems.