Table 1. Reported Good Hearing (GH) Descriptive Statistics and Unadjusted Odds Ratiosa.
| Variable | Total | HD | GH | Odds Ratio (95% CI) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | 1373 | 380 | 993 | |
| Continuous, mean (SEM) | ||||
| Age, y | 47.05 (0.39) | 49.08 (0.70) | 46.11 (0.52) | 0.98 (0.96-0.99) |
| Overall HEI score | 63.39 (0.42) | 62.09 (0.69) | 64.00 (0.46) | 1.01 (1.00-1.02) |
| Low-frequency PTA | 14.21 (0.38) | 18.26 (0.65) | 12.35 (0.33) | 0.93 (0.91-0.94) |
| High-frequency PTA | 33.35 (0.86) | 43.28 (1.5) | 28.80 (0.66) | 0.96 (0.95-0.97) |
| Categorical, % (SEM) | ||||
| Male sex | 56.1 (1.9) | 62.6 (3.7) | 53.1 (2.1) | 0.67 (0.47-0.96) |
| Race/ethnicity | ||||
| White | 73.0 (2.5) | 82.6 (2.9) | 68.5 (2.6) | 0.45 (0.33-0.63) |
| Black | 8.7 (1.1) | 5.5 (0.9) | 10.2 (1.3) | 1.93 (1.34-2.78) |
| Mexican American | 6.5 (0.8) | 3.1 (0.7) | 8.0 (1.0) | 2.68 (1.93-3.75) |
| Other | 11.9 (2.4) | 8.7 (2.5) | 13.3 (0.33) | 1.61 (0.98-2.63) |
| Education | ||||
| Less than high school education | 21.8 (1.4) | 19.8 (2.2) | 22.7 (1.9) | 1.19 (0.84-1.69) |
| High school education | 27.7 (1.9) | 29.7 (3.0) | 26.8 (1.7) | 0.87 (0.68-1.10) |
| More than high school education | 50.5 (2.4) | 50.6 (4.0) | 50.4 (2.4) | 0.99 (0.73-1.35) |
| Marital status (married) | 64.4 (2.3) | 69.5 (3.3) | 62.1 (2.4) | 0.72 (0.54-0.95) |
| Persistent tinnitus | 18.8 (1.8) | 36.3 (3.6) | 10.9 (1.6) | 0.21 (0.14-0.33) |
| Tinnitus in past year | 28.0 (1.7) | 47.7 (3.6) | 19.0 (1.8) | 0.26 (0.17-0.38) |
| Noise exposure | ||||
| Loud noise outside work | 26.1 (1.6) | 39.0 (3.1) | 20.2 (1.7) | 0.39 (0.29-0.53) |
| Loud job noise | 39.4 (2.3) | 52.3 (3.7) | 33.8 (3.0) | 0.46 (0.31-0.70) |
| Loud noise firearm outside work | 9.6 (1.0) | 16.5 (2.7) | 6.4 (0.8) | 0.35 (0.21-0.58) |
| Balance issues | 19.5 (1.6) | 26.9 (3.1) | 15.6 (1.8) | 0.50 (0.33-0.76) |
| Ever worn a hearing aid | 2.5 (0.4) | 7.2 (1.3) | 0.3 (0.2) | 0.03 (0.01-0.14) |
| Veteran/military | 17.1 (1.4) | 24.9 (2.1) | 13.5 (1.5) | 0.47 (0.34-0.64) |
| General health (reported as good) | 81.1 (2.0) | 75.3 (3.4) | 83.7 (1.7) | 1.69 (1.23-2.31) |
| Overweight | 32.4 (1.6) | 39.2 (2.9) | 29.2 (1.9) | 0.64 (0.47-0.87) |
| Diabetes | 9.5 (0.9) | 12.4 (2.0) | 8.2 (1.1) | 0.62 (0.37-1.04) |
| Liver condition | 5.3 (1.0) | 8.2 (2.0) | 3.9 (1.1) | 0.45 (0.19-1.05) |
| High blood pressure | 26.8 (1.5) | 25.2 (2.1) | 27.6 (1.6) | 1.13 (0.91-1.41) |
| Arthritis | 23.2 (1.1) | 32.0 (2.4) | 19.2 (1.2) | 0.51 (0.37-0.68) |
| Numbness in extremities (past 3 mo) | 23.0 (1.7) | 28.5 (3.1) | 20.1 (1.7) | 0.63 (0.44-0.89) |
| Pain/tingling hands/feet (past 3 mo) | 23.0 (1.7) | 30.5 (4.4) | 19.0 (1.7) | 0.53 (0.33-0.85) |
| Vision troubles | 18.8 (1.4) | 26.8 (3.3) | 15.1 (1.3) | 0.48 (0.32-0.72) |
| Confusion or memory problems | 5.0 (0.7) | 9.4 (1.8) | 3.0 (0.6) | 0.29 (0.16-0.53) |
| Physical, mental, emotional limitations | 9.2 (1.2) | 15.6 (2.3) | 6.6 (1.2) | 0.38 (0.22-0.65) |
| History of heart attack | 3.1 (0.5) | 4.1 (1.0) | 2.7 (0.6) | 0.65 (0.29-1.43) |
| History of stroke | 1.8 (0.4) | 3.0 (0.9) | 1.3 (0.4) | 0.41 (0.16-0.99) |
| History of cancer | 8.8 (0.7) | 10.9 (1.6) | 7.9 (0.9) | 0.69 (0.44-1.09) |
| Heavy alcohol use history | 19.9 (1.0) | 22.2 (2.3) | 18.7 (1.5) | 0.81 (0.54-1.19) |
| Smoking history | 56.1 (1.9) | 60.6 (2.8) | 54.0 (2.1) | 0.76 (0.58-0.99) |
| OTC analgesic drug use | 23.6 (1.7) | 32.5 (3.0) | 19.6 (1.6) | 0.51 (0.36-0.71) |
| Prescription drug use (past mo) | 59.5 (1.9) | 69.0 (3.4) | 55.2 (2.0) | 0.55 (0.40-0.77) |
Abbreviations: dB HL, decibel hearing level; GH, good hearing; HEI, healthy eating index; HD, hearing difficulty; OTC, over-the-counter; PTA, pure-tone average; SEM, standard error of mean.
a
Hearing loss defined as any frequency (0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0, 6.0, or 8.0 kHz >25 dB HL).