Abstract
Background Age-related changes to auditory function have been attributed to, through histopathological
study, specific degradation of the sensory, supporting, and afferent structures of
the cochlea. Similar to age-related hearing loss (ARHL), age-related changes to the
vestibular sensory and supporting structures with specific degeneration of the saccule,
utricle, otoconia, primary vestibular afferents have also been noted. Significant
decreases in postural control with age are also well-documented in the literature
attributed to multifactorial changes in function.
Purpose The purpose of this study is to further evaluate the association of ARHL and saccule/utricle
function as measured by VEMPs and postural control measures.
Study Sample Audiologic, vestibular and postural control results from 34 participants were analyzed.
The age range was from 50 to 70 years old with 16 males and 18 females. Group 1 consisted
of 33 ears from participants age 50–70 with normal hearing with average age of 60.8
years (sd 6.287 years) and an average speech-frequency PTA of 14.8 dB HL. Group 2
consisted of 27 ears from participants age 50–70 years with ARHL and an average age
of 62.9 years (sd 4.984 years) with an average speech-frequency PTA of 39.9 dB HL.
Data Collection and Analysis Independent samples t-tests were used to assess group mean differences for dependent variables. The independent
variable was group with 2 levels (normal hearing, ARHL). The dependent variables were
cVEMP P1/N1 Amplitude, cVEMP P1 Latency, cVEMP N1 Latency, cVEMP P2 Latency, oVEMP
N1/P1 Amplitude, oVEMP N1 Latency, and oVEMP P1 Latency. Additional analyses were
completed using Pearson correlation to evaluate the relationship of audiometric findings
to the dependent variables.
Results Results indicated significantly decreased cVEMP P1/N1 amplitude and oVEMP N1/P1 amplitude
adults 50–70-years of age with ARHL compared with their normal counterparts. Significant
correlations were also found for audiometric results and both cVEMP and oVEMP measures.
Conclusions Overall, the results of this study describe concomitant auditory and vestibular degeneration
as measured by audiometric testing and vestibular function testing involving the saccule
and to a lesser degree the utricle.
Keywords
oVEMPS - cVEMPS - age related hearing loss - presbycusis - vestibular testing
