The Relationship Between Hearing Loss and Physical Activity

Objectives: 
This study investigated the relationship between physical activity—measured both objectively and subjectively—and hearing acuity.
Design: 
Subjective physical activity data were collected through a questionnaire reflecting participants’ general activity levels. Objective physical activity was measured through accelerometer measurements recorded during daily life over two days in 6-sec epochs during awake hours. In total, 131 Dutch adults with varying levels of hearing acuity, ranging from normal hearing to severe impairment, were included. A trained algorithm classified the accelerometer data into various physical activities—such as walking, cycling, fast walking/running, and stair climbing—as well as postures, including lying down, sitting, and standing. In addition, the movement intensity of dynamic activities was quantified using the vector magnitude of the classified epochs. For each participant, the time spent on each activity or posture was expressed as a percentage of total awake time. Linear regression models were used to compare total awake time spent on each activity with participants’ self-reported activity levels. Furthermore, linear mixed-effects models analyzed the effect of hearing acuity and hearing asymmetry on the time spent engaging in activities and postures, as well as on the movement intensity when being active. Given the compositional nature and homogeneous distribution of objectively measured time in each activity level, both standard and Compositional Data Analysis (CoDA) approaches were applied to assess the effect of hearing acuity measures.
Results: 
The subjective and objective physical activity measures showed a modest relationship using both CoDA and standard approaches. This indicated that the two types of measures captured overlapping aspects of physical activity, supporting our assumption that both are partially valid representations of this underlying construct. A weak association was found between poorer pure-tone average in the better ear and a lower frequency of dynamic activities during the recorded period. This relationship persisted when applying the CoDA method, which also revealed a weak association between lower relative time spent walking and higher (poorer) pure-tone average in the better ear. In contrast, no significant associations were found between hearing acuity and the frequency of specific activities or postures, the intensity of dynamic activities, or subjective activity levels using the standard approach.
Conclusions: 
These findings suggest that individuals with worse hearing acuity may engage less in dynamic activities but are not necessarily characterized by low overall physical activity levels. Future research should consider the cultural context of the study population, the duration of the participant’s hearing loss, and extend accelerometer monitoring periods to provide more comprehensive insights.