simulated hearing loss in healthy young adults does not change reactive balance responses

Background :hearing loss has been implicated in increased fall risk, particularly among older adults, due to its impact on mobility, gait speed, and postural stability. dual-task paradigms, where individuals must simultaneously process auditory information and maintain balance control, may exacerbate these deficits. however, isolating the effects of auditory input from age-related neuromuscular and cognitive decline presents a methodological challenge. objectives :this study aimed to assess the acute effects of simulated hearing loss on reactive balance control in healthy young adults using a dual-task paradigm. methods :nineteen healthy young adults completed a dual-task protocol involving unexpected surface translations while performing the bamford-kowal-bench speech-in-noise (bkb-sin) test under three auditory conditions: no audio, normal hearing, and simulated hearing loss. hearing loss was simulated using frequency-specific attenuation via adobe audition. primary outcomes included bkb-sin performance, maximum center of pressure to center of mass (cop–com) distance during the first compensatory step, and reaction time to step initiation. kinematic and kinetic data were collected using a motion capture system and instrumented treadmill. repeated measures anova was used to evaluate the effects of auditory and balance conditions. results :simulated hearing loss significantly impaired bkb-sin performance, confirming increased auditory task difficulty. however, maximum cop–com distance and reaction time were significantly affected only by perturbation level, with no significant differences across auditory conditions. no interaction effects were observed between auditory and balance conditions. conclusions :acute simulated hearing loss did not impair reactive balance control in young adults, suggesting sufficient attentional capacity and system redundancy to compensate during dual-task conditions. these findings underscore the importance of investigating age-related auditory and cognitive decline to better understand balance impairments in older adults with hearing loss.