Impact of Hearing Loss on Patient Falls in the Inpatient Setting

The objectives of this study were to investigate an association between the risk of patient falls and self-reported hearing loss and to examine whether self-reported hearing loss with versus without hearing aids predicts patient falls in an inpatient setting. This retrospective cohort analysis was conducted in 2018 in a large, urban, academic medical center. Participants included unique inpatients (N=52,805) of adults aged >18 years between February 1, 2017, and February 1, 2018. Outcome measures were falls in the inpatient setting and hearing loss with versus without hearing aids as predictors for patient falls. Self-reported hearing loss was associated with falls in the inpatient setting (OR=1.74, 95% CI=1.46, 2.07, p