TABLE 8.
Prevalence of Audiometric Notch Among Working Canadians, Aged 16 to 79 Years: Demographics
| §Notch (n = 3,431) | ||Notch (n = 3,431) | |||||||||||||
| 95% CI | 95% CI | |||||||||||||
| Characteristics | n | N | % | SE % | From | To | n | N | % | SE % | From | To | ||
| ’000 | ’000 | |||||||||||||
| Total | 670 | 5,558 | 22.0 | 1.6 | 18.6 | 25.7 | 394 | 3,118 | 12.3 | 1.1 | 10.1 | 14.9 | ||
| Demographic characteristics | ||||||||||||||
| Sex | ||||||||||||||
| Men | 414 | 3,468 | 27.5 | 2.6 | 22.2 | 33.6 | ‡ | 304 | 2,400 | 19.1 | 1.9 | 15.2 | 23.7 | ‡ |
| Women† | 256 | 2,090 | 16.4 | 2.0 | 12.6 | 21.2 | 90 | 717 | 5.6 | 0.8 | 4.1 | 7.8 | ||
| Age group | ||||||||||||||
| 16–29 years† | 103 | 933 | 14.9 | 2.6 | 10.0 | 21.7 | e,E | f,F | ||||||
| 30–49 | 297 | 2,024 | 22.9 | 2.8 | 17.4 | 29.6 | * | 170 | 1,241 | 14.0 | 1.1 | 11.7 | 16.7 | |
| 50–79 | 270 | 2,602 | 25.5 | 2.4 | 20.6 | 31.0 | * | 190 | 1,563 | 15.3 | 2.5 | 10.6 | 21.5 | e |
| Education (highest level in household) | ||||||||||||||
| Postsecondary or more† | 504 | 3,998 | 21.2 | 1.6 | 17.8 | 25.0 | 299 | 2,212 | 11.7 | 1.2 | 9.4 | 14.5 | ||
| Less than postsecondary | 139 | 1,400 | 25.5 | 3.3 | 18.9 | 33.4 | 84 | 851 | 15.5 | 2.4 | 10.8 | 21.7 | e | |
| Household income | ||||||||||||||
| <$50,000† | 232 | 1,746 | 20.2 | 2.8 | 14.8 | 26.9 | 146 | 1,217 | 14.1 | 1.2 | 11.7 | 16.9 | ||
| $50,000 to <$100,000 | 235 | 1,799 | 21.0 | 2.0 | 16.9 | 25.7 | 143 | 907 | 10.6 | 1.2 | 8.2 | 13.6 | * | |
| $100,000 or more | 203 | 2,013 | 24.9 | 2.5 | 19.8 | 30.9 | 105 | 993 | 12.3 | 2.3 | 8.0 | 18.5 | e,E | |
Any hearing loss: FFPTA and/or HFPTA and/or LFPTA.
e, E use with caution (coefficient of variation 16.6–33.3%), population size and %, respectively.
f, F too unreliable to be published (coefficient of variation greater than 33.3%), population size and %, respectively.
DPOAE, distortion product otoacoustic emissions; FFPTA, four-frequency pure tone average over frequencies (0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz); HFPTA, high-frequency pure tone average over frequencies (3, 4, 6, and 8 kHz); LFPTA, low-frequency pure tone average over frequencies (0.5, 1, and 2 kHz).
*, ‡ significantly different from estimate for reference category (P < 0.05) and (P < 0.01), respectively.
†Reference category.
Audiometric notch definitions: §Criteria for audiometric notch 1: (1) thresholds at 0.5 and 1 kHz of ≤15 dB, (2) maximal threshold at 3, 4, or 6 kHz ≥15 dB higher than the highest threshold for 0.5 and 1 kHz, and (3) threshold at 8 kHz ≥10 dB lower (better than) the maximal threshold for 3, 4, or 6 kHz. (Niskar et al46); ||Criteria for audiometric notch 2: thresholds at 2 and 8 kHz were both minimally at hearing levels 10 dB lower (better than) than the threshold at 4 kHz (Wilson45).