A comparison of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on communication among individuals with and without hearing impairment

Figures & data

Table 1. Descriptive statistics for demographic variables by total sample and hearing ability.

		Hearing ability
Demographic information		Total sample (N 880)	Good (n 336)	Insufficient (n 177)	Poor (n 367)
		M (SD) or n (%)	M (SD) or n (%)	M (SD) or n (%)	M (SD) or n (%)
Age (years)^a	n	64.5 (55.3, 70.5)	61.8 (67.8, 51.5)	65.4 (58.7, 70.5)	66.4 (59.0, 72.1)
		880	336	177	367
Sex	Female	505 (57.4)	184 (54.8)	100 (56.5)	221 (60.2)
	n	880	336	177	367
Prior diagnosis of hearing loss	Yes	633 (71.9)	143 (42.6)	134 (75.7)	356 (97.0)
	n	880	336	177	367
Hearing aid users	Yes	442 (69.8)	43 (30.1)	90 (67.2)	309 (86.8)
	n	633	143	134	356
Cochlear implant users	Yes	43 (6.8)	1 (0.7)	1 (0.7)	41 (11.5)
	n	633	143	134	356
Education	Low	117 (13.5)	31 (9.3)	28 (16.0)	58 (16.1)
	Medium	219 (25.2)	77 (23.1)	41 (23.4)	101 (28.1)
	High	533 (61.3)	226 (67.7)	106 (60.6)	201 (55.8)
	n	869	334	175	360
Employment	Paid job	358 (41.2)	181 (54.2)	69 (39.4)	108 (30.0)
	Retired	332 (38.2)	100 (29.9)	71 (40.6)	161 (44.7)
	Other	179 (20.6)	53 (15.9)	35 (20.0)	91 (25.3)
	N	869	334	175	360
Health status	(0– 100)	72.8 (21.8)	75.3 (19.1)	70.6 (24.4)	71.5 (22.6)
	N	877	335	176	366
Living situation	Alone	198 (23.4)	80 (24.6)	34 (20.2)	84 (23.9)
	n	845	325	168	352

M: mean; SD: standard deviation; N: total sample size; n: subgroup sample size; IQR: interquartile range

Data may be missing in some of the non-mandatory survey items; therefore, subgroup sample sizes are presented. For example, only those with a prior diagnosis of hearing loss (n = 633) were asked to report whether they use hearing aids or a cochlear implant. Hence, the sample size for hearing aid users and cochlear implant users is n = 633.

^aMedian (interquartile range) are shown.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, S.E. Kramer, upon reasonable request.