Table 1.
Selected Characteristics of US Adults Aged 18 Years or Older by Reported Hearing and Depression Status, NHANES 2005–2010a
| Characteristic | Sample Size, No. (N = 18 318 | All | Excellent or Good Hearing (n = 14 152) | HI (n = 4162) | P Value for χ2 | No Depression (n = 12 013) | Mild Depression (n = 2480) | Moderate to Severe Depression (n = 1363) | P Value for χ2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, y | |||||||||
| 18 to 44 | 8569 | 49.4 | 56.0 | 25.4 | <.001 | 48.0 | 53.5 | 47.3 | <.001 |
| 45 to 69 | 6600 | 39.1 | 36.5 | 48.7 | 40.5 | 36.2 | 45.7 | ||
| ≥70 | 3149 | 11.5 | 7.5 | 25.9 | 11.5 | 10.3 | 7.0 | ||
| Sex | |||||||||
| Male | 8918 | 48.3 | 46.3 | 55.6 | <.001 | 51.4 | 41.6 | 35.8 | <.001 |
| Female | 9400 | 51.7 | 53.7 | 44.4 | 48.4 | 58.4 | 64.2 | ||
| Race/ethnicity | |||||||||
| Non-Hispanic white | 8569 | 69.4 | 66.4 | 79.9 | <.001 | 71.5 | 69.1 | 63.3 | <.001 |
| Non-Hispanic Black | 3836 | 11.5 | 12.9 | 6.8 | 10.8 | 10.7 | 15.9 | ||
| Hispanic | 5052 | 12.9 | 14.1 | 8.5 | 12.2 | 13.9 | 16.0 | ||
| Other | 861 | 6.2 | 6.6 | 4.8 | 5.5 | 6.3 | 4.8 | ||
| Educational level | |||||||||
| <High school | 5382 | 19.3 | 18.4 | 22.9 | <.001 | 16.6 | 23.3 | 30.2 | <.001 |
| High school graduate | 4561 | 25.1 | 24.3 | 27.8 | 24.4 | 26.4 | 28.6 | ||
| >High school | 8310 | 55.6 | 57.3 | 49.3 | 59.0 | 50.3 | 41.2 | ||
| Poverty income ratio | |||||||||
| <1 | 3598 | 18.6 | 19.0 | 17.3 | <.005 | 15.2 | 22.7 | 35.0 | <.001 |
| 1 to <3 | 7089 | 48.3 | 47.2 | 52.2 | 47.7 | 48.4 | 47.8 | ||
| ≥3 | 3234 | 33.1 | 33.8 | 30.5 | 37.1 | 28.8 | 17.2 | ||
| Married/living with partner | 10 345 | 63.4 | 63.1 | 64.3 | .32 | 66.8 | 58.4 | 50.9 | <.00l |
| Living alone | 2544 | 13.3 | 12.0 | 17.7 | <.001 | 12.3 | 14.5 | 16.8 | <.001 |
| Uninsured | 4394 | 19.6 | 20.9 | 14.7 | <.001 | 17.7 | 23.9 | 29.2 | <.001 |
| BMI | |||||||||
| <25 (Normal/underweight) | 6139 | 36.4 | 38.1 | 30.4 | <.001 | 36.3 | 33.8 | 31.3 | <.001 |
| 25 to <30 (Overweight) | 6025 | 34.0 | 33.3 | 36.5 | 35.1 | 31.2 | 29.7 | ||
| ≥30 (Obese) | 5437 | 29.5 | 28.6 | 33.1 | 28.5 | 35.0 | 39.0 | ||
| Smoking | |||||||||
| Current | 3754 | 22.4 | 22.4 | 22.3 | <.001 | 19.4 | 28.2 | 41.9 | <.001 |
| Former | 4261 | 24.4 | 21.7 | 33.7 | 25.5 | 24.3 | 19.6 | ||
| Never | 9104 | 53.2 | 55.9 | 44.0 | 55.1 | 47.5 | 38.5 | ||
| Binge drinker | 2261 | 12.1 | 10.4 | 18.2 | <.00l | 11.8 | 17.7 | 26.6 | <.00l |
| Self-rated health status | |||||||||
| Excellent, very good, or good | 13 928 | 82.7 | 85.7 | 71.7 | <.001 | 88.3 | 73.3 | 49.2 | <.001 |
| Fair | 3529 | 14.0 | 11.9 | 21.7 | 10.4 | 21.2 | 33.5 | ||
| Poor | 851 | 3.3 | 2.4 | 6.6 | 1.3 | 5.5 | 17.3 | ||
| Hypertension | 5549 | 26.9 | 23.0 | 40.7 | <.00l | 26.3 | 28.4 | 36.4 | <.00l |
| Diabetes mellitus | 2012 | 8.0 | 6.8 | 12.6 | <.001 | 7.2 | 9.7 | 13.3 | <.001 |
| Cardiovascular disease history | 1946 | 8.2 | 5.8 | 16.5 | <.001 | 7.0 | 9.3 | 14.8 | <.001 |
| Cancer history | 1610 | 8.7 | 6.8 | 15.6 | <.001 | 7.9 | 8.4 | 12.0 | .04 |
| Trouble seeing, even with glasses/contact lenses | 3574 | 17.1 | 13.9 | 28.5 | <.001 | 13.7 | 23.4 | 39.4 | <.001 |
| Sleep disorder | 1304 | 7.3 | 6.3 | 10.9 | <.001 | 5.6 | 9.8 | 22.1 | <.001 |
| Ever worn a hearing aid, age, yb | |||||||||
| 18 to 19 | 7.0 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 10.3 | <.05 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 0 | .13 |
| ≥70 | 578 | 18.6 | 1.4 | 36.5 | <.001 | 18.3 | 16.6 | 19.5 | .68 |
| Tinnitus, age, yb | |||||||||
| 18 to 19 | 111 | 10.3 | 8.3 | 37.9 | <.005 | 7.4 | 15.2 | 27.6 | .01 |
| ≥70 | 452 | 15.5 | 11.3 | 19.8 | <.001 | 16.2 | 16.2 | 19.8 | .66 |
Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index (calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared); HI, hearing impairment; NHANES, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey; PIR, poverty income ratio.
Hearing impairment was defined as any difficulty hearing. Depression categories were defined as follows: none, 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) score less than 5; mild, PHQ-9 score of 5 to 9; and moderate to severe, PHQ-9 score of 10 or higher. Data are given as population-weighted percentages unless otherwise indicated. Denominators vary because of missing data.
Data were available only among those aged 18 to 19 years (n = 1186) and 70 years or older (n = 3149).