Table 2.
Participants’ characteristics according to their occupational lifetime exposure to very loud noise
| Duration of exposure | P-value | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
||||||
| Never exposed | <5 years | 5–9 years | 10–14 years | ≥15 years | ||
| Sociodemographics | ||||||
| Men (%) | 41.59 | 70.88 | 72.45 | 74.66 | 84.09 | <0.001 |
| Age (mean, SE) | 46.83 (0.18) | 42.02 (0.50) | 45.50 (0.63) | 50.08 (0.59) | 59.11 (0.38) | <0.001 |
| Age ≥40 years (%) | 59.96 | 47.71 | 56.60 | 69.31 | 92.10 | <0.001 |
| Race/ethnicity (%) | <0.001 | |||||
| White | 75.27 | 75.81 | 76.45 | 74.93 | 85.66 | |
| Black/African American | 12.04 | 13.81 | 11.92 | 14.19 | 8.57 | |
| American Indian/Chinese/Filipino/Asian Indian | 4.77 | 2.87 | 3.74 | 1.80 | 1.74 | |
| Multiple race/other | 7.92 | 7.51 | 7.89 | 9.08 | 4.03 | |
| Annual family income (%) | <0.001 | |||||
| <$35,000 | 29.84 | 35.70 | 36.18 | 34.30 | 31.22 | |
| $35,000–74,999 | 29.90 | 30.94 | 36.14 | 35.44 | 38.32 | |
| $75,000–99,999 | 12.96 | 11.61 | 13.01 | 12.59 | 13.24 | |
| ≥$100,000 | 27.31 | 21.75 | 14.67 | 17.68 | 17.22 | |
| Lifestyle | ||||||
| Cigarette-smoking status (%) | <0.001 | |||||
| Never smoker | 64.48 | 48.29 | 42.45 | 44.77 | 40.66 | |
| Former smoker | 20.69 | 24.18 | 27.58 | 29.49 | 37.93 | |
| Current some day smoker | 3.61 | 6.83 | 5.42 | 3.36 | 3.56 | |
| Current every day smoker | 11.22 | 20.70 | 24.55 | 22.39 | 17.85 | |
| Ever smoked other tobacco products (%) | 19.64 | 40.80 | 38.37 | 34.60 | 36.20 | <0.001 |
| Alcohol-drinking status (%) | <0.001 | |||||
| Lifetime abstainer | 20.88 | 10.71 | 8.98 | 13.65 | 10.71 | |
| Former drinker | 12.56 | 14.17 | 14.05 | 18.61 | 23.83 | |
| Current drinker | 66.56 | 75.12 | 76.97 | 67.74 | 65.46 | |
| Light/moderate physical activity (%) | <0.001 | |||||
| Never | 38.24 | 33.21 | 40.48 | 38.64 | 41.74 | |
| Unable to do it | 0.83 | 0.68 | 2.03 | 1.79 | 2.26 | |
| <3 times/week | 34.41 | 36.28 | 33.68 | 32.07 | 27.83 | |
| 4–7 times/week | 23.31 | 26.16 | 20.03 | 23.77 | 24.18 | |
| >7 times/week | 3.21 | 3.68 | 3.78 | 3.72 | 3.99 | |
| Vigorous physical activity (%) | <0.001 | |||||
| Never | 50.90 | 45.38 | 50.77 | 53.79 | 59.56 | |
| Unable to do it | 1.29 | 1.28 | 2.75 | 2.78 | 2.82 | |
| <3 times/week | 32.69 | 35.57 | 30.05 | 28.48 | 22.68 | |
| 4–7 times/week | 13.11 | 15.41 | 14.23 | 11.28 | 13.85 | |
| >7 times/week | 2.01 | 2.36 | 2.20 | 3.67 | 1.09 | |
| Body mass index (%) | <0.001 | |||||
| <25.00 kg/m2 | 37.98 | 29.94 | 27.42 | 23.32 | 22.37 | |
| 25.00–29.99 kg/m2 | 34.23 | 37.30 | 38.42 | 36.83 | 38.43 | |
| ≥30.00 kg/m2 | 27.79 | 32.75 | 34.16 | 39.85 | 39.21 | |
| Co-morbidity | ||||||
| Asthma (%) | 12.56 | 15.90 | 14.07 | 13.27 | 12.71 | 0.005 |
| Emphysema (%) | 1.12 | 1.27 | 1.45 | 2.07 | 4.49 | <0.001 |
| Hearing (%) | <0.001 | |||||
| Excellent hearing | 54.80 | 42.66 | 33.99 | 33.20 | 20.62 | |
| Good/little trouble hearing | 41.07 | 49.89 | 55.41 | 55.20 | 57.70 | |
| Moderate trouble/lot of trouble hearing | 4.13 | 7.45 | 10.59 | 11.60 | 21.68 | |
| Occupation | ||||||
| Occupational group (%) | <0.001 | |||||
| White-collar workers | 66.12 | 46.32 | 31.52 | 33.35 | 30.64 | |
| Service workers | 18.70 | 20.40 | 18.45 | 15.43 | 11.69 | |
| Blue-collar workers | 15.17 | 33.27 | 50.03 | 51.22 | 57.66 | |
| Hearing protection use (%) | <0.001 | |||||
| Always | n/a | 36.35 | 35.75 | 36.85 | 28.59 | |
| Usually | n/a | 9.48 | 13.56 | 10.18 | 13.21 | |
| About half the time | n/a | 7.41 | 9.01 | 9.95 | 10.71 | |
| Seldom | n/a | 6.74 | 8.96 | 8.74 | 13.54 | |
| Never | 100.00 | 40.01 | 32.72 | 34.27 | 33.95 | |
| Current job was also the longest held job (%) | 61.21 | 47.18 | 45.73 | 57.75 | 54.62 | <0.001 |
Reported estimates are weighted to obtain nationally representative estimates. Percentages are reported within columns. Missing cases are not displayed. Data source: CDC/NCHS, National Health Interview Survey, 2014.