Vestibular Hypofunction in Patients with Presbycusis: A Cross-Sectional Study

Vestibular Hypofunction (VH) and hearing loss can affect quality of life and lead to disability, especially in the elderly. Studies investigating presbycusis and vestibular function in the aging population have been conducted separately, but few have examined the combination of both conditions in older patients, with inconsistent results that may be due to small sample sizes or heterogeneity in the methods used to assess vestibular function. We aimed to characterize the occurrence of VH in patients with presbycusis using the video head impulse test (vHIT), which is a specific and reliable assessment tool for VH. A prospective, cross-sectional study of 200 individuals was conducted at Hamad Medical Corporation-Qatar in Doha, Qatar. Adults aged 50 years and older with bilateral age-related hearing loss were screened for eligibility and those who were eligible completed the vHIT. Patient history, demographics, audiological and clinical data were collected. VH was defined as vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) gain of