Table 1.
Comparison of demographics in urban and rural adult hearing aid recipients
| Characteristic | Urban | Rural | p-value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population Size | 273 | 63 | |
| Mean age (years) | 66.3 | 66.7 | 0.864 |
| Mean commute time to audiologist (min) | 32 | 68 | <.0001 |
| Male sex (%) | 51% | 49% | 0.807 |
| Race/Ethnicity* | |||
| White | 96% | 100% | 0.090 |
| African American | 3% | 0% | 0.355f |
| Hispanic | 0.7% | 0% | 1.000f |
| Native American | 1% | 0% | 1.000f |
| Other | 0.7% | 0% | 1.000f |
| Education (%) | <0.001 | ||
| No degree | 1% | 10% | 0.002f |
| High School or Equivalent | 9% | 24% | 0.001 |
| Post-secondary education | 22% | 24% | 0.753 |
| College graduate | 26% | 15% | 0.055 |
| Graduate degree | 42% | 27% | 0.030 |
| Income (%) | <0.001 | ||
| Less than $10,000 | 2% | 5% | 0.174f |
| $10,000–20,000 | 7% | 11% | 0.416 |
| $20,000–30,000 | 7% | 11% | 0.416 |
| $30,000–60,000 | 25% | 39% | 0.080 |
| More than $60,000 | 59% | 34% | <0.001 |
| Insurance (%)* | |||
| Medicaid | 4% | 13% | 0.012 |
| Medicare | 51% | 57% | 0.345 |
| Private | 63% | 51% | 0.065 |
| Other | 24% | 37% | 0.046 |
| Hearing Aid Use (%) | 0.426 | ||
| Unilateral | 17% | 11% | |
| Bilateral | 80% | 87% | |
*
Percentages do not add to 100% due to multiple selections possible.
f
Fisher’s Exact test used due to anticipated frequency < 5 in one of the categories.