Page 26 - IJPS-8-1

International Journal of
Population Studies Hearing loss, hearing aids, and cognitive function

Table 1. Characteristics of study participants in the Health and Retirement Study, 1998 – 2018 (n=20,545)

Non‑Hispanic White Non‑Hispanic Black Hispanic
Number of participants 15,319 3,235 1,991
Number of observations 70,202 12,883 7,905
Age, mean (SD), y 73.7 (5.7) 72.6 (5.6) 72.5 (5.5)
Sex (male) 42.3 37.1 40.7
Self-rated hearing, mean (SD) 1.7 (1.1) 1.7 (1.0) 2.0 (1.1)
Self-rated hearing
Excellent 14.5 12.9 12.0
Very good 27.2 26.1 17.3
Good 36.0 40.9 38.4
Fair 16.9 15.8 26.7
Poor 5.4 4.3 5.7
Hearing aid use (yes) 13.7 5.5 8.3
Cognitive score, mean (SD) 22.7 (4.7) 18.9 (5.5) 19.1 (5.2)
Marital status
Married/partnered 64.0 43.2 59.8
Divorced 8.4 18.6 13.5
Widowed 24.3 32.7 23.4
Never married 2.3 5.5 3.3
Household size, mean (SD) 1.9 (0.8) 2.2 (1.3) 2.6 (1.5)
Live in South 37.6 57.7 45.6
Wealth, median, US$ 248,000 50,000 50,000
Education, mean (SD), y 12.9 (2.6) 11.4 (3.3) 8.6 (4.6)
Employment status
Employed 13.9 13.2 11.6
Unemployed 13.4 16.7 26.9
Retired 72.7 70.1 61.5
Smoking status
Never smoker 41.7 41.7 47.6
Past smoker 48.8 46.1 42.9
Current smoker 9.6 12.2 9.5
Heavy drinking 0.9 0.9 2.5
ADL, mean (SD) 0.3 (0.8) 0.5 (1.0) 0.5 (1.1)
Ever diagnosed with:
High blood pressure 58.5 77.6 64.5
Diabetes 19.6 34.0 36.4
Cancer 19.1 14.8 11.1
Lung disease 11.6 8.9 6.1
Heart disease 30.4 25.8 20.0
Stroke 9.6 11.2 7.4
Study follow-up
Years of follow-up, mean (SD) 12.2 (5.2) 11.3 (5.4) 11.2 (5.3)
Died during study period 39.3 35.2 27.7
Values reported as percentages or means (standard deviation [SD]); and are reported for the pooled data.

Volume 8 Issue 1 (2022) 20 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.v8i1.1308