Table 2.

Association between perceived hearing difficulties and early retirement in the HUNT Study

	OR (95% CI)
N = 5567
Men aged 46–65 years
Perceived hearing difficulties
No perceived disability	1.00 (reference)
Perceived HI and a small disability	2.77 (1.98–3.89)
Perceived HI and a moderate disability	3.57 (2.43–5.25)
Perceived HI and a severe disability	2.78 (1.62–4.76)
N = 5246
Women aged 46–65 years
Perceived hearing difficulties
No perceived hearing disability	1.00 (reference)
Perceived HI and a small disability	3.70 (2.25–6.08)
Perceived HI and a moderate disability	4.29 (2.32–7.94)
Perceived HI and a severe disability	4.15 (1.94–8.85)

Adjusted for low-, medium- and high-frequency hearing loss, age, educational level, position in labour market and health in HUNT1.

Nagelkerke adjusted R²: 34.7% for men aged 46–65 years and 26.7% for women aged 46–65 years.

Total number of men and women (young and middle aged) in the analysis was 17 672.