TABLE 1.
Weighted sample characteristics by self-reported sensory difficulty status in Round 1 of the National Health and Aging Trends Study.
| No sensory difficulty (n = 5,220) | Hearing difficulty only (n = 1,533) | Visual difficulty only (n = 509) | Dual sensory difficulty (n = 331) | All groups (n = 7,593) | p-value3 | |
| Sensory difficulty status, % (95% CI) | 72.1 (70.7, 73.4) | 19.0 (17.9, 20.2) | 5.6 (4.9, 6.4) | 3.3 (2.9, 3.8) | – | |
| Age groups, % (95% CI) | <0.001 | |||||
| 65–69 years | 32.4 (31.2, 33.5) | 14.8 (12.6, 17.3) | 26.1 (22.0, 30.7) | 11.5 (7.5, 17.1) | 28.0 (27.0, 29.0) | |
| 70–74 years | 27.5 (26.5, 28.6) | 20.2 (17.8, 22.9) | 16.6 (12.6, 21.6) | 11.2 (7.1, 17.2) | 25.0 (24.1, 25.8) | |
| 75–79 years | 19.0 (17.9, 20.1) | 20.5 (18.0, 23.2) | 16.8 (13.1, 21.1) | 17.4 (13.2, 22.4) | 19.1 (18.3, 19.9) | |
| 80–84 years | 12.8 (12.0, 13.7) | 20.6 (18.6, 22.7) | 18.1 (14.9, 21.9) | 14.5 (10.7, 19.4) | 14.6 (14.0, 15.4) | |
| 85–89 years | 6.3 (5.6, 7.0) | 15.8 (14.0, 17.6) | 14.3 (11.3, 17.9) | 24.1 (20.5, 28.1) | 9.1 (8.5, 9.8) | |
| ≥90 years | 2.1 (1.8, 2.5) | 8.2 (7.0, 9.5) | 8.1 (6.4, 10.3) | 21.4 (17.8, 25.4) | 4.2 (3.8, 4.7) | |
| Sex, % (95% CI) | <0.001 | |||||
| Female | 58.2 (56.5, 60.0) | 45.9 (43.5, 48.3) | 69.5 (64.3, 74.3) | 58.9 (53.0, 64.5) | 56.5 (55.1, 58.0) | |
| Male | 41.8 (40.0, 43.5) | 54.1 (51.7, 56.5) | 30.5 (25.7, 35.8) | 41.1 (35.5,47.1) | 43.5 (42.1, 44.9) | |
| Race/ethnicity, % | <0.001 | |||||
| White, Non-Hispanic | 80.0 (78.1, 81.8) | 86.3 (84.1, 88.2) | 72.7 (67.8, 77.0) | 71.1 (63.7, 77.5) | 80.5 (78.7, 82.2) | |
| Black, Non-Hispanic | 8.9 (8.0, 10.0) | 3.8 (3.2, 4.6) | 13.7 (11.7, 16.0) | 6.1 (4.5, 8.2) | 8.1 (7.3, 9.0) | |
| Hispanic | 6.5 (5.4, 7.6) | 5.3 (4.2, 6.7) | 9.6 (6.5, 14.1) | 16.5 (10.8 24.2) | 4.6 (3.7, 5.8) | |
| Other | 4.6 (3.6, 5.9) | 4.6 (3.5, 6.1) | 4.0 (2.3, 7.2) | 6.4 (3.9, 10.5) | 6.8 (5.8, 7.9) | |
| Education, % (95% CI) | <0.001 | |||||
| Less than high school | 19.3 (17.6, 21.2) | 23.3 (20.7, 26.1) | 33.7 (28.9, 38.9) | 46.7 (39.6, 53.8) | 21.8 (20.1, 23.6) | |
| High school | 27.3 (25.7, 29.0) | 28.5 (26.4, 30.6) | 27.3 (23.7, 31.3) | 27.5 (22.1, 33.6) | 27.6 (26.3, 28.9) | |
| Some college, no degree | 22.2 (20.9, 23.6) | 20.0 (17.4, 22.8) | 21.9 (17.2, 27.5) | 11.4 (7.9, 16.3) | 21.4 (20.3, 22.6) | |
| College graduate | 31.1 (28.6, 33.8) | 28.2 (25.4, 31.3) | 17.1 (13.1, 21.9) | 14.4 (10.8, 19.0) | 29.2 (27.0, 31.6) | |
| Dementia status, % (95% CI) | <0.001 | |||||
| No dementia | 83.6 (81.4, 85.1) | 74.3 (71.2, 77.2) | 59.8 (54.1, 65.3) | 43.2 (36.2, 50.4) | 79.2 (77.5, 80.8) | |
| Possible dementia | 9.8 (8.5, 11.2) | 13.7 (11.9, 15.7) | 13.9 (10.5, 18.2) | 16.1 (11.3, 22.5) | 10.9 (9.7, 12.3) | |
| Probable dementia | 6.7 (5.9, 7.5) | 12.0 (10.1, 14.2) | 26.3 (22.2, 30.9) | 40.7 (34.1, 47.6) | 9.9 (9.2, 10.7) | |
| Medicare-Medicaid enrollees, % (95% CI) | 10.5 (9.3, 11.8) | 11.5 (9.5, 13.9) | 23.7 (19.7, 28.3) | 27.1 (21.6, 33.3) | 12.0 (10.7, 13.3) | <0.001 |
| Number comorbid conditions1, mean (95% CI) | 2.2 (2.2, 2.3) | 2.6 (2.5, 2.7) | 3.0 (2.8, 3.2) | 3.1 (2.9, 3.3) | 2.4 (2.3, 2.4) | <0.001 |
| Proxy respondent, % (95% CI) | 3.4 (2.8, 4.1) | 6.7 (5.5, 8.2) | 17.3 (13.7, 21.6) | 30.8 (24.7, 37.8) | 5.7 (5.1, 6.4) | <0.001 |
| Clinically significant depressive symptoms2, % (95% CI) | 12.2 (11.1, 13.3) | 15.8 (13.5, 18.3) | 26.7 (22.2, 31.7) | 39.0 (32.6, 45.9) | 14.5 (13.3, 15.8) | <0.001 |
1Comorbid conditions include hypertension, diabetes, heart disease or heart attack, arthritis, osteoporosis, lung disease, cancer, and stroke.
2Those with clinically significant depressive symptoms at baseline (N = 1,211) were excluded from Cox regression.
3Bivariate comparisons were performed using Pearson’s chi-squared test for categorical variables and adjusted Wald test for continuous variables.