Research from Johns Hopkins University has found that elderly persons that engage in frequent physical activity have a reduced incidence of hearing loss. The researchers tested 706 people of age 70 or older. The subjects responded to a questionnaire about their physical activity levels over the previous 30 days and wore accelerometers to measure their level of day-to-day physical activity.

Subjects were categorized as inactive, insufficiently active or sufficiently active. After testing each participant’s hearing, the researchers found that those in the inactive category, according to the accelerometer data, were 70 percent more likely to suffer from significant hearing impairment. The data produced by the questionnaires alone suggested that individuals in the lowest category had a 59 percent increased incidence of hearing impairment.