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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2022 Jan 1.
Published in final edited form as: Med Care. 2021 Jan;59(1):22–28. doi: 10.1097/MLR.0000000000001419

Table 1 –

Characteristics of the Medicare beneficiaries by functional hearing statusa,b

Functional Hearing Status
Variable Total No Trouble A Little Trouble A Lot of Trouble
Unweighted Sample 11,441 5912 4665 864
Weighted Sample 48,562,591 26,043,232 19,313,279 3,206,081
Dissatisfied with care 3.94% 3.11% 4.65% 6.53%
Usual Place of Care = Yes 93.28% 92.91% 93.81% 93.17%
Age (years)*
 64 and younger 16.21% 17.61% 14.45% 15.40%
 65–74 49.03% 52.42% 46.56% 36.40%
 75 and older 34.76% 29.97% 38.99% 48.20%
Female* 55.17% 59.94% 50.47% 44.73%
Race*
 Non-Hispanic White 74.47% 70.24% 79.39% 79.15%
 Non-Hispanic Black 9.52% 11.48% 7.64% 4.84%
 Hispanic 9.13% 10.99% 6.92% 7.41%
 Other 6.88% 7.28% 6.05% 8.60%
Educational attainment*
 Less than 9th grade 16.87% 17.11% 15.12% 25.53%
 High school or vocational, technical degree 35.58% 34.36% 36.64% 39.12%
 More than high school 47.54% 48.53% 48.24% 35.35%
Income Greater or equal to $25,000* 60.34% 59.00% 63.59% 51.63%
Married = Yes** 54.15% 52.85% 56.71% 49.39%
General health*
 Excellent 16.48% 19.67% 13.67% 7.60%
 Very good 28.45% 29.25% 28.67% 20.59%
 Good 29.94% 28.84% 31.32% 30.51%
 Fair 17.61% 16.06% 18.12% 27.18%
 Poor 7.52% 6.18% 8.23% 14.12%
Functional limitations*
 No functional limitations 52.50% 57.67% 49.97% 25.52%
 only IADLsc 11.98% 11.41% 11.97% 16.79%
 1–2 ADLsd 24.06% 21.97% 25.36% 33.17%
 3–4 ADLs 7.79% 6.21% 8.47% 16.55%
 5–6 ADLs 3.67% 2.72% 4.23% 7.98%
Chronic Comorbiditiese Count*
 0 05.84% 07.67% 04.67% 00.98%
 1–2 36.61% 40.97% 32.62% 25.24%
 3–5 47.13% 43.43% 50.95% 54.11%
 ≥ 6 10.42% 8.29% 11.76% 19.67%

Ref – Reference

a

Data derived from the 2015 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey public use file

b

Survey weights applied according to Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey; percentages are based on weighted survey sample

c

IADL – Instrumental Activity of Daily Living (e.g., financial management, meal preparation, housework [light or heavy], shopping, using the telephone)

d

ADL – Activity of Daily Living (e.g., bathing or showering, dressing, getting in and out of bed or a chair, walking, using the toilet, and eating)

e

Chronic Comorbidities include: cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease/asthma, chronic heart disease, serious mental illness, acute myocardial infarction, hypertension, diabetes, stroke, depression, arthritis, dementia or Alzheimer disease

*

denotes significantly different univariate chi-square at P<0.001

**

denotes significantly different univariate chi-square at P<0.01