JAAA CEU Program

The questions on this page refer to Criter, “A Survey on Hearing Loss, Dizziness, and Balance Problems as Fall Risk Factors: Responses of Older Adults Seen by Audiologists,” pages 75–80.

Learner Objectives

Readers of this article should be able to:

• Identify audiology-related risk factors that patients perceive to be associated with fall risk.

• Discuss how many audiology patients are likely to consult audiologists about falls.

CEU Questions

1. Approximately what fraction of U.S. older adults fall each year?

   • One half

   • One third

   • Two thirds

2. Which of the following is not listed as a possible reason why hearing loss is associated with increased fall risk?

   • Reduced environmental awareness due to loss of auditory cues

   • Simultaneous dysfunction of the auditory and vestibular systems

   • Occlusion effect

3. Which of the following positive vestibular tests is associated with 3.4 odds increase in fall risk?

   • Headshake test

   • Calorics

   • cVEMPs

4. Which of the following is true in this study?

   • Participants who thought hearing loss was a fall risk factor were significantly older than those who did not.

   • Age was not significantly different between participants with and without a recent fall.

   • Most participants reported not using hearing aids.

5. What is the average number of recent falls reported in this study?

   • 2.0

   • 2.5

   • 1.0

6. Which of the following is true for reported falls in this study?

   • The majority of falls were attributed to hearing difficulties.

   • Dizziness and balance problems were not mentioned as a cause of any falls.

   • Hearing was not mentioned as a cause of any falls.

7. What percentage of participants indicated they had a fear of falling?

   • 64.4%

   • 72.4%

   • 34.2%

8. Which of the following is false, based on this study?

   • Less than half of the participants agreed that hearing loss is a fall risk factor.

   • The majority of the participants agreed that dizziness is a fall risk factor.

   • No participants agreed that audiologists are healthcare providers who can address falls, fall risk, and prevention.

9. Which percentage of participants would discuss falls with their audiologist?

   • 39.5%

   • 32.9%

   • 9.2%

10. Which of the following is true, based on this study?

    • 100% of participants would discuss hearing concerns with their audiologist.

    • 46.1% of participants were unsure about discussing falls with an audiologist.

    • Participants who fell were significantly more likely to discuss falls with an audiologist.

Publication History

Article published online:
27 December 2024