Table 2.
Indices of COP Movement Variables and Occurrence of Falls According to Different Hearing Acuity Quartiles
| Hearing Acuity (BEHL0.5–4 kHz) Quartiles (N = 429) |
Between-groups Wald Test |
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| First, the Best, Quartile (1), Mean (SD) | Second Quartile (2), Mean (SD) | Third Quartile (3), Mean (SD) | Fourth, the Poorest, Quartile (4), Mean (SD) | 1–4, P | |
| COP movement in semitandem stance (n = 420) | |||||
| Mediolateral velocity (mm/s) | 14.1 (3.3)3,4 | 15.1 (4.2) | 15.7 (4.6)1 | 15.9 (4.3)1 | .009 |
| Anteroposterior velocity (mm/s) | 10.9 (4.2)3,4 | 11.4 (3.7) | 12.2 (4.1)1 | 12.3 (3.8)1 | .018 |
| Velocity moment (mm2/s) | 40.7 (24.4)3,4 | 46.3 (25.5) | 50.6 (33.4)1 | 52.8 (32.0)1 | .003 |
| Fall occurrence (n = 423) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | p |
| At least one fall | 46 (43) | 51 (49) | 49 (45) | 53 (53) | .583 |
| At least two falls | 18 (17)4 | 19 (18) | 25 (23) | 30 (30)1 | .176 |
| At least one injurious fall | 27 (25) | 30 (29) | 27 (25) | 37 (37) | .270 |
Note: COP = center of pressure; SD = standard deviation; BEHL0.5–4 kHz, better ear hearing threshold level at frequencies of 0.5–4 kHz. Hearing quartile limits from the best to the poorest were as follows: BEHL0.5–4 kHz <11.5, 11.5–17.5, 18–27, and >27 dB. Adjusted Wald test's p values for COP variables are given for logarithmized values. Superscript 1,3,4 indicate statistically significant differences (p value <.05) between hearing acuity quartiles.