Table 1.
Sociodemographic Characteristics between Hearing Loss Cases and Controls.
| Variables | Case (n = 817) | Control (n = 817) | p |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age, years | 55.93 (8.99) | 55.91 (9.03) | 0.231 |
| Sex (males), n (%) | 411 (50.3) | 411 (50.3) | 1.000 |
| RTL, median (P25–P75) | 0.92 (0.71–1.15) | 0.97 (0.75–1.22) | 0.004 |
| Hypertension, n (%) | 268 (32.8) | 148 (18.1) | <0.001 |
| Hyperlipidemia, n (%) | 64 (7.8) | 31 (3.8) | 0.001 |
| Diabetes, n (%) | 51 (6.2) | 23 (2.8) | 0.001 |
| Hypercholesterolemia, n (%) | 30 (3.7) | 15 (1.8) | 0.025 |
| Lead (log-transformed), µg/dL | 1.59 (0.16) | 1.59 (0.16) | 0.845 |
| Cadmium (log-transformed), µg/L | 0.51 (0.18) | 0.50 (0.16) | 0.043 |
Abbreviations: RTL, relative telomere length; Note: data of lead and cadmium are presented as mean (SD) based on the distribution of log-transformed. Wilcoxon signed-rank test for quantitative data with non-normal distribution (RTL). Paired t-test for quantitative data with normal distribution (age, lead and cadmium). McNemar test for qualitative data (sex, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes and hypercholesterolemia) in the paired design.