Table 1 Baseline characteristics of study participants in NHANES 2003–2004,2011–2012 and 2015–2016 according to hearing loss

Age, Mean (SD)

34.24 (9.87)

44.84 (10.66)

< 0.001

46.83 (10.00)

< 0.001

44.83 (10.66)

< 0.001

BMI, Mean (SD)

28.43 (7.14)

29.67 (6.47)

0.004

29.80 (6.05)

0.036

29.69 (6.48)

0.004

Gender, n, %

< 0.001

< 0.001

< 0.001

 Male

497 (42.7%)

542 (54.6%)

347 (67.1%)

536 (55.1%)

 Female

682 (57.3%)

453 (45.4%)

166 (32.9%)

437 (44.9%)

Race, n, %

0.077

0.012

0.117

 Mexican American

168 (8.9%)

151 (8.1%)

80 (8.0%)

146 (8.0%)

 Other Hispanic

108 (6.6%)

109 (6.2%)

52 (5.1%)

107 (6.2%)

 Non-Hispanic White

468 (65.4%)

413 (69.9%)

233 (73.3%)

404 (70.0%)

 Non-Hispanic Black

251 (11.5%)

165 (8.0%)

73 (6.2%)

164 (8.1%)

 Other Race - Including

 Multi-Racial

184 (7.6%)

157 (7.8%)

75 (7.4%)

152 (7.7%)

Education levels, n, %

< 0.001

< 0.001

< 0.001

 Less than high school

158 (9.1%)

229 (15.2%)

130 (16.6%)

226 (15.3%)

 High school or equivalent

611 (50.4)

521 (53.8%)

278 (57.1%)

508 (53.5%)

 College or above

410 (40.5%)

245 (31.0%)

105 (26.3%)

239 (31.2%)

Marital status, n, %

< 0.001

< 0.001

< 0.001

 Married

539 (47.9%)

568 (59.4%)

298 (59.9%)

559 (59.8%)

 Widowed

4 (0.4%)

20 (1.6%)

9 (1.6%)

19 (1.4%)

 Divorced

61 (4.5%)

112 (12.0%)

60 (12.5%)

109 (12.0%)

 Separated

36 (2.1%)

41 (3.0%)

22 (3.2%)

38 (2.8%)

 Never married

375 (31.5%)

162 (16.0%)

73 (14.4%)

159 (16.1%)

 Living with partner

164 (13.6%)

92 (8.0%)

51 (8.4%)

89 (7.9%)

Smoking status, n, %

< 0.001

< 0.001

< 0.001

 NO

761 (62.9%)

521 (50.6%)

229 (44.5%)

506 (50.6%)

 YES

418 (37.1%)

474 (49.4%)

284 (55.5%)

467 (49.4%)

Drinking status, n, %

0.038

0.018

0.055

 NO

859 (77.4%)

653 (72.2%)

334 (69.8%)

640 (72.3%)

 YES

320 (22.6%)

342 (27.8%)

179 (30.2%)

333 (27.7%)

Hypertension, n, %

< 0.001

< 0.001

< 0.001

 NO

982 (84.8%)

708 (73.0%)

348 (68.6%)

689 (72.7%)

 YES

197 (15.2%)

287 (27.0%)

165 (31.4%)

284 (27.3%)

Diabetes, n, %

< 0.001

< 0.001

< 0.001

 NO

1130 (96.3%)

879 (91.2%)

446 (89.3%)

857 (81.1%)

 YES

49 (3.7%)

116 (8.8%)

67 (10.7%)

116 (8.9%)

PIR, n, %

0.640

0.768

0.604

 <1.3

336 (21.8%)

293 (19.9%)

158 (20.0%)

287 (18.9%)

 1.3–3.5

438 (35.2%)

379 (36.1%)

199 (37.0%)

367 (35.6%)

 ≥3.5

405 (43.0%)

323 (44.0%)

156 (43.0%)

319 (45.5%)

Noise exposure, yes, n, %

 Work noise

141 (12.4%)

177 (18.3%)

0.009

110 (21.9%)

< 0.001

338 (18.3%)

0.759

 Recreational noise

184 (15.8%)

177 (19.0%)

0.169

109 (22.2%)

0.012

175 (19.1%)

0.161

 Firearm noise

402 (42.7%)

343 (42.4%)

0.901

205 (47.5%)

0.014

173 (43.0%)

0.015

Year cycle, n, %

0.899

0.678

0.931

 2003–2004

223 (19.7%)

293 (20.3%)

99 (21.5%)

170 (19.7%)

 2011–2012

388 (33.8%)

379 (34.6%)

166 (32.6%)

330 (34.8%)

 2015–2016

568 (46.5%)

323 (45.1%)

248 (45.9%)

473 (45.5%)

Log (ethylbenzene), Mean (SD)

-3.72 (0.61)

-3.49 (0.83)

< 0.001

-3.43 (0.77)

< 0.001

-3.49 (0.83)

< 0.001

Log (m-/p-Xylene), Mean (SD)

-2.71 (0.83)

-2.46 (0.99)

< 0.001

-2.37 (0.93)

< 0.001

-2.46 (0.99)

< 0.001

Log(o-Xylene), Mean (SD)

-3.73 (0.53)

-3.55 (0.70)

< 0.001

-3.51 (0.64)

< 0.001

-3.55 (0.70)

< 0.001

Log (benzene), Mean (SD)

-3.56 (0.82)

-3.31 (1.07)

< 0.001

-3.22 (1.10)

< 0.001

-3.31 (1.07)

< 0.001

Log (BEX), Mean (SD)

-1.89 (0.70)

-1.64 (0.90)

< 0.001

-1.57 (0.85)

< 0.001

-1.64 (0.91)

< 0.001