Table 1.
Prevalence of Speech-Frequency and High-Frequency Hearing Impairment (HI) Among U.S. Adults, 20–69 Years, by Demographic Characteristics, Noise Exposures, and Cardiovascular Risks, NHANES, 2011–2012
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Speech Frequency HIa % (95% Confidence Intervals) |
High Frequency HIb % (95% Confidence Intervals) |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Sample Number |
(Population- weighted %)c |
Overalld | Unilaterale | Bilateralf | Overalld | Unilaterale | Bilateralf | |
| Total (2011–2012) | 3,831 | (100.0) | 14.1 (11.6–17.1) | 6.6 (5.4–8.1) | 7.5 (5.8–9.6) | 31 (28–34) | 12 (11–14) | 19 (17–22) |
| Sex | ||||||||
| Male | 1,953 | (50.0) | 18.6 (14.8–23.1) | 8.7 (6.6–11.4) | 9.9 (7.2–13.3) | 42 (37–48) | 15 (12–17) | 28 (23–33) |
| Female | 1,878 | (50.0) | 9.6 (7.2–12.7) | 4.5 (3.3–6.1) | 5.1 (3.6–7.3) | 20 (17–23) | 9 (8–11) | 11 (9–13) |
| Age, years | ||||||||
| 20–29 | 840 | (21.6) | 2.2 (1.3–3.7) | 1.4 (0.7–2.6) | 0.8 (0.3–2.3) | 7 (5–10) | 5 (3–8) | 2 (1–4) |
| 30–39 | 758 | (19.0) | 3.3 (2.1–5.2) | 2.4 (1.3–4.2) | 0.9 (0.4–2.1) | 11 (9–13) | 8 (6–10) | 3 (2–5) |
| 40–49 | 739 | (21.5) | 7.8 (5.5–11.0) | 4.4 (3.2–5.9) | 3.4 (2.1–5.6) | 26 (21–32) | 11 (9–15) | 15 (11–19) |
| 50–59 | 772 | (22.1) | 23.1 (18.7–28.1) | 11.8 (8.7–15.9) | 11.2 (7.5–16.6) | 50 (44–56) | 19 (16–24) | 31 (25–37) |
| 60–69 | 722 | (15.9) | 39.3 (30.7–48.7) | 14.6 (9.6–21.6) | 24.7 (20.2–29.9) | 68 (59–76) | 17 (13–21) | 51 (44–58) |
| Race/ethnicity | ||||||||
| NHg white | 1,334 | (66.5) | 15.9 (12.8–19.6) | 6.9 (5.2–9.1) | 9.0 (7.1–11.5) | 34 (31–37) | 12 (11–14) | 21 (19–24) |
| NHg black | 1,063 | (11.6) | 9.0 (7.5–10.9) | 5.0 (4.1–5.9) | 4.1 (2.7–6.2) | 22 (19–26) | 11 (9–13) | 12 (9–15) |
| Mexican-American | 397 | (7.9) | 9.2 (6.5–13.0) | 4.9 (2.7–8.7) | 4.3 (3.3–5.7) | 28 (24–32) | 13 (11–15) | 15 (13–18) |
| NHg Asian | 538 | (4.9) | 10.8 (7.2–15.8) | 6.1 (3.9–9.2) | 4.7 (2.8–7.8) | 25 (19–31) | 11 (9–14) | 14 (10–18) |
| Other Hispanic | 378 | (6.3) | 9.1 (6.3–13.0) | 5.2 (2.8–9.5) | 3.9 (1.9–7.7) | 26 (21–31) | 9 (7–12) | 17 (12–23) |
| Other race | 121 | (2.8) | 22.6 (10.3–42.6) | 15.2 (6.9–30.1) | 7.4 (2.3–21.2) | 34 (18–54) | 13 (5–26) | 22 (13–34) |
| Education | ||||||||
| <High school | 737 | (13.8) | 19.2 (15.6–23.3) | 7.9 (6.1–10.1) | 11.3 (8.5–14.8) | 42 (39–46) | 14 (11–18) | 28 (24–33) |
| High school | 805 | (19.7) | 19.1 (13.9–25.8) | 9.7 (6.8–13.6) | 9.5 (6.5–13.5) | 40 (34–46) | 15 (11–19) | 25 (22–29) |
| Some college/AA | 1,246 | (33.7) | 14.8 (11.3–19.3) | 6.6 (4.8–8.9) | 8.3 (5.5–12.4) | 27 (21–34) | 11 (8–14) | 16 (12–22) |
| ≥College graduate | 1,043 | (32.9) | 8.3 (6.0–11.3) | 4.3 (2.4–7.6) | 4.0 (2.6–6.0) | 27 (21–30) | 11 (8–14) | 15 (11–18) |
| Smoking, pack-years | ||||||||
| Nonsmoker | 2,206 | (55.8) | 11.1 (8.9–13.7) | 5.3 (4.3–6.4) | 5.8 (4.2–7.9) | 26 (22–30) | 11 (9–13) | 15 (12–18) |
| <20 | 623 | (17.2) | 7.6 (5.1–11.0) | 4.8 (3.1–7.5) | 2.7 (1.6–4.6) | 23 (18–28) | 10 (7–15) | 13 (9–19) |
| ≥20 | 874 | (23.5) | 26.4 (22.0–31.3) | 11.8 (9.2–15.0) | 14.6 (12.0–17.7) | 50 (45–55) | 15 (12–18) | 35 (31–39) |
| Unknown | 128 | (3.4) | 12.5 (5.6–25.7) | 1.8 (0.7–4.4) | 10.7 (4.2–24.9) | 24 (17–34) | 12 (7–23) | 13 (7–21) |
| Hypertension | ||||||||
| No | 2,481 | (68.3) | 10.9 (8.5–13.7) | 5.3 (4.1–6.7) | 5.6 (4.1–7.6) | 24 (21–28) | 10 (9–12) | 14 (12–17) |
| Yes | 1,350 | (31.7) | 21.1 (17.7–25.0) | 9.6 (7.4–12.3) | 11.6 (9.1–14.6) | 46 (42–50) | 16 (13–20) | 30 (26–33) |
| Diabetes mellitush | ||||||||
| No | 3,331 | (90.5) | 12.5 (10.1–15.3) | 5.7 (4.6–7.1) | 6.8 (5.1–8.9) | 28 (25–31) | 11 (10–13) | 17 (15–19) |
| Yes | 499 | (9.5) | 29.8 (22.6–38.2) | 15.2 (9.0–24.5) | 14.6 (12.0–17.6) | 60 (53–67) | 21 (16–26) | 39 (30–50) |
| Occupationali | ||||||||
| No | 2,477 | (63.7) | 11.3 (9.0–14.1) | 5.8 (4.5–7.5) | 5.5 (4.1–7.3) | 25 (23–28) | 11 (9–13) | 14 (13–16) |
| Yes, “loud” only (<5 years) | 234 | (6.3) | 8.9 (4.9–15.6) | 3.5 (1.3–9.1) | 5.0 (3.0–9.6) | 29 (20–39) | 12 (8–19) | 16 (11–23) |
| Yes, “loud” only (≥5 years) | 233 | (6.3) | 19.2 (12.2–29.0) | 9.2 (4.6–17.7) | 10.0 (6.7–14.7) | 45 (38–52) | 16 (9–27) | 28 (21–37) |
| Yes, “very loud” (<5 years) | 406 | (11.5) | 14.4 (8.1–24.4) | 5.5 (3.1–9.8) | 8.9 (4.5–16.7) | 34 (27–41) | 13 (7–21) | 21 (15–28) |
| Yes, “very loud” (≥5 years) | 427 | (11.2) | 30.7 (25.1–36.8) | 12.8 (8.8–18.4) | 17.8 (11.9–25.7) | 57 (46–67) | 14 (10–19) | 43 (35–51) |
| Unknown | 54 | (1.0) | 6.9 (2.7–16.6) | 4.6 (1.5–13.4) | 2.3 (0.5–10.8) | 27 (14–47) | 17 (7–37) | 10 (5–21) |
| Outside of work,j “very loud” | ||||||||
| No | 3,359 | (87.3) | 13.6 (10.7–17.1) | 6.2 (4.7–8.2) | 7.3 (5.8–9.3) | 30 (27–33) | 12 (10–14) | 18 (16–21) |
| Yes | 470 | (12.7) | 18.1 (11.3–27.8) | 9.4 (5.7–15.3) | 8.6 (4.2–17.0) | 37 (28–46) | 12 (9–18) | 25 (18–33) |
| Firearms, includes use for recreation, job, or military | ||||||||
| No | 2,433 | (54.3) | 11.4 (9.1–14.2) | 6.0 (4.5–8.0) | 5.4 (4.3–6.8) | 26 (24–29) | 12 (10–13) | 14 (13–16) |
| Yes | 1,395 | (45.7) | 17.3 (13.6–21.9) | 7.3 (5.7–9.5) | 10.0 (7.3–13.6) | 37 (32–43) | 12 (9–16) | 25 (21–29) |
| Rounds fired (firearms) | ||||||||
| None | 2,433 | (54.3) | 11.4 (9.1–14.2) | 6.0 (4.5–8.0) | 5.4 (4.3–6.8) | 26 (24–29) | 12 (10–13) | 14 (13–16) |
| 1 to <1,000 | 977 | (32.6) | 14.0 (10.6–18.2) | 6.0 (4.2–8.4) | 8.0 (5.8–10.9) | 32 (27–38) | 10 (6–16) | 22 (18–27) |
| 1,000 or more | 401 | (12.9) | 26.0 (19.7–33.4) | 10.8 (8.4–13.7) | 15.2 (9.4–23.6) | 50 (40–59) | 18 (13–24) | 32 (22–43) |
Speech-frequency hearing impairment (HI) is defined as pure-tone average (PTA) of thresholds across 0.5–1–2–4 kHz greater than 25 dB hearing level (HL).
High-frequency HI is defined as PTA of thresholds across 3–4–6 kHz greater than 25 dB HL.
The total number of U.S. civilian, non-institutionalized adults aged 20–69 years in the 2011–2012 NHANES was 196.6 million.
“Overall” sums unilateral and bilateral HI; this means hearing HI in either or both ears, i.e., a “worse ear” definition of HI.
“Unilateral” HI means the PTA in only one ear exceeds 25 dB HL.
“Bilateral” HI means the PTAs in both ears exceed 25 dB HL, i.e., a “better ear” definition of HI.
NH is an abbreviation for non-Hispanic.
Diabetes was defined by a positive response to: (a) ‘Yes’ to “Ever been told by a doctor or other health professional that you have diabetes?”, (b) ‘Yes’ to “Now taking diabetic pills to lower blood sugar”, or (c) a two hour fasting glucose ≥200 mg/dl.
Occupational noise exposure is defined as: “exposed at work to loud sounds or noise for 4 or more hours, several days a week”; “how long” this exposure is categorized as “< 5 years” or “≥ 5 years”. In addition, separate categories distinguish adults who “only” had loud noise exposure at work (“so loud that they had to raise their voice to be heard”) versus those who also had very loud noise exposure at work (“so loud that they had to shout to be heard”); see complete wording of the question in the Methods section.
Noise exposure outside of work is defined as: “Outside of a job, ever exposed to very loud noise or music for 10 or more hours a week?” Examples are noise from power tools, lawn mowers, farm machinery, cars, trucks, motorcycles, motor boats or loud music.