Starkey was the first hearing aid manufacturer to incorporate embedded sensors in hearing aids capable of directly measuring activity, social engagement, and falls. The significance of this functionality pertains to comorbidity between hearing loss, cardiovascular disease, cognitive function, and fall risk. Fall detection, which has been deployed successfully in Starkey hearing aids for several years, provides patients and caregivers “peace of mind” via text message and GPS location in the event a fall occurs. This presentation will discuss the next major development: moving from fall detection to fall prevention via fall risk estimation, gait analysis, and balance exercises. Audience participation is encouraged.
CEUs can be earned by attending this session.
Learning Objectives:
Analyze how fall prevention screening questions may be used to identify and predict fall risk for hearing aid users
Describe the test measures used in the STEADI protocol
Compare the accuracy of human versus automated scoring via hearing-aid-embedded sensors for fall risk estimation in a pilot study
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