Hearing Screening in Older Adults is Gaining Momentum . The European Project AHEAD III on Adult Hearing

Address correspondence to: Prof. Ferdinando Grandori, Istituto di Ingegneria Biomedica CNR, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, I-20133, Milano, Italy, Email: isib.cnr@polimi.it. or in social gatherings. On the midand long-term run, relationships are greatly distorted and communication is greatly reduced. Another very important and mostly underestimated side effect is that delayed central processing of auditory and spatiotemporal information can affect balance maintenance, whose dysfunction is a primary risk factor for falls. One third of falls in older adults is produced by balance disorders (Duxbury, 1997; Murray et al., 2005), and bone fractures resulting from falls could lead to long-term disability. Despite the prevalence and burden of hearing disabilities, they are still largely underdetected and underdiagnosed in older adults, and there is a lack of accepted guidelines, protocols and legislation. It is expected, however, that the situation will rapidly change in favor of an increased attention to the topic, mainly as a result of a more widespread awareness (see, e.g., Project AHEAD III, 2008; NIH/NIDCD Working Group, 2009).