Study with Apple Health data: Hearing loss linked to everyday mobility
A large-scale study by the University of Michigan shows: Poorer hearing correlates with slower walking speed. iPhones provided the data.
(Image: Sebastian Trepesch / heise medien)
Health features in wearables are known to be a low-threshold way to keep an eye on yourself. Checking your perceived rapid pulse is just a tap away with a suitably equipped smartwatch. A case study has investigated how precisely the heart rate measurement of the Apple Watch compares to medical reference sensors. But research can also benefit significantly from the health records of iPhones & Co., as a long-term study by the University of Michigan now shows, which was published on April 30, 2026, and was created in cooperation with Apple. It provides two remarkable findings about the connection between hearing ability and noticeable everyday problems.
First, there is the finding that the subjective experience of one's own hearing ability and clinical findings sometimes differ significantly. Out of around 85,000 study participants with clinically normal hearing, more than 16 percent rated their own hearing as “fair” or “poor.” Over seven percent reported having significant difficulties in everyday life with concentrated listening or with conversations in background noise, rating their impairment as eight or more out of ten possible points.
What is “normal” anyway?
Hearing ability is determined using the so-called 4PTA value (Four-Frequency Pure Tone Average). This indicates how quietly someone can still perceive tones at four speech-relevant frequencies (500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz). While the study indicates no fundamental problem with this value, as it indicated that people who perceive their hearing as poor also had a higher 4PTA value, the classification as “normal” leads to no further measures being recommended in practice. Regular, low-threshold tests would more quickly identify if further deterioration occurs.
The second finding concerns a statistical correlation between hearing loss and walking ability. For this, researchers analyzed walking speeds of around 57,000 participants passively recorded by iPhone sensors in everyday life. The result: the higher the 4PTA value – i.e., the worse the hearing – the slower the subjects moved in everyday life. The correlation remained significant even after statistical adjustment for age and gender and was particularly pronounced in individuals aged 60 and over.
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Those who hear poorly walk slower
The scientists' explanation: Good hearing provides constant acoustic environmental information – footsteps, traffic noise, spatial signals – which unconsciously contribute to safe and swift locomotion. If this acoustic orientation is lost or weakened, people move more cautiously. Walking speed is considered a multifaceted health marker that includes the heart, lungs, muscles, sense of balance, and also hearing.
Naturally, Apple uses the study results to highlight the functions of its products. The hearing tests and hearing aids introduced in 2024 – available on AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3 in combination with an iPhone – are now available in over 150 countries. The hearing test measures the 4PTA value directly on the device, and the hearing aid function can act as a clinically approved hearing aid for mild to moderate hearing loss.
Huge data pool with ifs and buts
The study's unique feature is that it can draw on a huge data pool of 160,000 participants, and this was not created under laboratory conditions but passively in everyday life. Apple's own AI research also uses such mass data: A new foundational model based on Apple Watch sensor data is intended to detect diseases such as heart problems or respiratory infections early on. On the other hand, the participant selection is not representative compared to other studies, which limits its transferability to the general population. iPhone users who actively participate in a health study tend to be more health-conscious than average; this could distort the results. Those who want to use their Apple Watch even more specifically for health monitoring will find more profound analyses and recommendations in specialized health apps for the Apple Watch.
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