{
  "abstract": "Background and objectives\n\nBalance and mobility difficulties are common in adults with hearing loss (HL), but are often overlooked in clinical practice because of fragmented care models; the siloed structure of clinical services; and limitations in the current International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF)-based assessment frameworks. This study aimed to quantify these difficulties and examine their associations with functional domains.Subjects and methods\n\nA cross-sectional study included 72 adults (mean age, 59±8.3 years), comprising participants with normal hearing (25%) and HL (75%), including both unaided and aided users. Participants were purposively recruited from the Speech and Hearing Clinic at Auburn University and had previously completed the HEAR-COMMAND Tool, a self-assessment questionnaire derived from the ICF-Core Sets for HL (ICF-CSHL). In addition, all participants completed the Balance and Mobility Scale (BMS), a 13-item instrument modeled after the HEAR-COMMAND Tool, to benchmark balance-mobility difficulties.Results\n\nThe BMS results demonstrated excellent internal consistency (α=0.90) and two distinct but correlated factors, Physical Mobility and Perceptual Experience, supporting its structural validity. Balance-mobility challenges were highly prevalent, including walking fatigue (73.6%), difficulty performing complex movements (72.2%), difficulty transitioning between positions (70.8%), leg stiffness (68.1%), standing instability (61.1%), and difficulty walking long distances (50%). BMS scores were strongly associated with HEAR-COMMAND scores, explaining significant variance in both the hearing domain (β=0.50, p<0.001, R2=0.40) and non-hearing domain (β=0.63, p<0.001, R2=0.48). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that only the hearing-domain scores differed significantly among groups, with participants with normal hearing outperforming both unaided and aided participants with HL.Conclusions\n\nThe high prevalence and strong functional associations of balance-mobility challenges indicate that they are core components of disability in individuals with HL. Incorporating these domains into the ICF-CSHL frameworks and their derived assessment tools, including the HEAR-COMMAND Tool, may support a more person-centered and function-oriented approach to hearing healthcare.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Speech-Language and Hearing Sciences, ABILITY Research Lab, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA"
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 1,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Razan Alfakir",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-9781-8006"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/401nw3gb5wk0w.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.7874/jao.2025.00654",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13720396",
  "id": "401nw3gb5wk0w",
  "issns": [
    "2384-1621",
    "2384-1710"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42958772",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Original Article"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2805|Hearing Loss and Rehabilitation"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7223009620",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13720396?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13720396",
  "pmid": "42958772",
  "published": "2026-10-20",
  "publisher": "Korean Audiological Society",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/401nw3gb5wk0w.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-31T12:21:21Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42958772",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42958772"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-03T12:21:17Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13720396",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.7874/jao.2025.00654"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "openalex:2805|Hearing Loss and Rehabilitation",
      "subfield": "neuroscience"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Expanding the Functional Profile of Hearing Loss: Evidence for Including Balance and Mobility Categories in the ICF Core Sets for Hearing Loss.",
  "title_text": "Expanding the Functional Profile of Hearing Loss: Evidence for Including Balance and Mobility Categories in the ICF Core Sets for Hearing Loss.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-03T12:21:17Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/401nw3gb5wk0w",
  "venue": "Journal of audiology & otology",
  "versions": []
}