Balance Problem in Individuals with Normal Hearing Across Age Groups - A Behavioural Study.

Abstract

This study was done to find the hidden balance problem in individuals across age groups using perceptual measure (Dizziness Index of Impairment in Activities of Daily Living Scale questionnaire, DII-ADL) and vestibulospinal-cerebellar function tests (Sharpened Romberg test, Fukuda stepping test, Tandem gait test, and Finger-to-nose test). A total of 150 individuals in three age groups, young adults (20-40 years), middle-aged adults (40-60 years), and older adults (> 60 years) were considered. All the individuals had normal hearing sensitivity with no reported perceptual balance issues. DII-ADL questionnaire, Sharpened Romberg test, Fukuda stepping test, Tandem gait test, and Finger-to-nose test were administered to all the participants. Balance disturbances were observed in all three age groups. The symptoms and test findings showed increased abnormality with the increase in age. DII-ADL questionnaire suggests older adults have more difficulty performing activities of daily living than young and middle-aged adults. The sharpened Romberg test result showed a moderate negative correlation and the Fukuda stepping test showed a moderate positive correlation with the sections of the DII-ADL questionnaire. Individuals of any age can have difficulty performing activities of daily living even though they do not have evident balance disorder perceptually. Thus there is a need to spread awareness among professionals and emphasize the need for screening individuals across age groups for balance disturbances. The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12070-022-03459-6.