Physical activity interventions for adults with hearing loss: a systematic review

ABSTRACT

Growing epidemiological evidence suggests that adults with hearing loss engage in less physical activity than those without, which may increase the risk of chronic health conditions. This review aimed to systematically evaluate existing evidence assessing the effectiveness of physical activity interventions in adults with hearing loss. The review also aimed to identify the behaviour change techniques used in the included studies. A systematic search of the literature was completed and reported in line with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analysis. Two studies met the eligibility criteria, both found overall improvements for physical function, namely, aerobic fitness and muscle strength in adults with hearing loss. Limited evidence was available for the impact on psychosocial wellbeing. The evidence was judged to be of low quality and subject to bias. Further theoretically driven, high-quality intervention studies that incorporate additional behaviour techniques (e.g., providing additional environmental cues) are necessary.

KEYWORDS:

• Physical activity
• hearing loss
• review
• behaviour change

Acknowledgements

No specific funding was provided for this project. The research was undertaken as part of the first-author’s doctoral studies supported by Loughborough University. We would also like to thank Rosalyn Parker and Susannah Goggins for reviewing an earlier version of this manuscript and providing invaluable feedback.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analysed in this study.