Prevalence of self-reported middle ear disease, hearing loss and vertigo in two adult population-based cohorts over a 20-year period in Greenland

Figures & data

Table 1. The distribution of age and gender in 1995 responders and non-responders and the background population in Greenland. The p-values are calculated sing Chi-squared test with Yates correction testing if the responding group reflects the background population. Significance level p < 0.05.

	1995
	Responders		Non responders		Population*
	n	%	n	%	n	%	p
M/F	135/146	48/52	68/51	57/43	15,337/14,158	52/48	0.483/0.471
Age in years
18–29	96	34	44	37	10,618	36	0.702
30–39	91	32	37	31	9,143	31	0.764
40–49	53	19	20	17	5,309	18	0.815
50–60	41	15	18	15	4,424	15	0.935
Total	281	100	119	100	29,495	100

*Born in Greenland.

Table 2. The distribution of age and gender in 2014 responders and the background population in Greenland. The p-values are calculated using Chi-squared test with Yates correction testing the distribution differences between the responding group and the background population. Significance level p < 0.05.

	2014
	Responders		Population**
	n	%	n	%	p
M/F	598/1041	36/64	18,981/16,695	53/47	<0.001
Age in years
18–29	301	18	10,626	30	<0.001
30–39	221	13	7,038	20	<0.001
40–49	504	31	8,918	25	<0.001
50–60	613	37	9,094	25	<0.001
Total	1,639	100	35,676	100

**Born in Denmark or Greenland

Table 3. Shows the distribution of answers in the 1995 and 2014 cohorts, respectively, according to sex. The p-values are calculated using Chi-squared test with Yates correction testing significant differences between the number of persons answering “yes” to the questions in 1995 and 2014. *Only replied if “yes” to question no. 1. Significance level p < 0.05 and 95% CI was calculated on significant values.

	1995			2014
	Male n (%)	Female n (%)	p[95% CI]	Male n (%)	Female n (%)	p[95% CI]
Have you ever had ear discharge?	36 (27)	43 (30)	0.735	122 (21)	175 (17)	0.089
Have you had ear discharge within the last 6 months?*	11 (8)	13 (9)	0.990	33 (6)	62 (6)	0.192
Have you had ear discharge since childhood?	27 (21)	24 (18)	0.557	132 (22)	177 (17)	0.016[0.01, 0.1]
Did you have otitis media in childhood?	28 (22)	41 (29)	0.224	146 (25)	203 (20)	0.026[0.01, 0.1]
Do you suffer from vertigo more than twice a week?	16 (13)	28 (20)	0.136	55 (9)	159 (16)	<0.001[-0.1, -0.03]
Are you bothered from hearing loss?	39 (30)	34 (24)	0.306	196 (33)	264 (26)	<0.002[0.03, 0.01]

Table 4. Shows 1995 and 2014, respectively, and the number of persons who answered “yes” according to age groups. The p-values are calculated using Chi-squared test with Yates correction for each age group testing if there are significant differences between the number of persons answering yes in 1995 and 2014. *Only replied if “yes” to question no. 1. Significance level p < 0.05 and 95% CI was calculated on significant values.

	Age 18–29 years			Age 30–39 years			Age 40–49 years			Age 50–60 years
	1995 n (%)	2014 n (%)	p[95% CI]	1995 n (%)	2014 n (%)	p[95% CI]	1995 n (%)	2014 n (%)	p[95%CI]	1995 n (%)	2014 n (%)	p[95% CI]
Have you ever had ear discharge?	29 (31)	51 (17)	0.005[0.03, 0.3]	29 (33)	35 (16)	<0.002[0.1, 0.3]	14 (26)	108 (22)	0.565	7 (18)	103 (17)	0.889
Have you had ear discharge within the last 6 months?*	6 (6)	17 (27)	<0.001[-0.3, -0.1]	11 (13)	11 (5)	0.681	5 (10)	34 (7)	0.017[-0.3, -0.1]	2 (5)	33 (28)	<0.006[-0.3, -0.1]
Have you had ear discharge since childhood?	20 (22)	57 (19)	0.665	18 (22)	41 (19)	0.642	11 (22)	99 (20)	0.836	2 (5)	112 (19)	0.057
Did you have otitis media in childhood?	23 (25)	63 (21)	0.534	28 (31)	45 (21)	0.058	12 (23)	111 (23)	0.934	6 (15)	130 (21)	0.439
Do you suffer from vertigo more than twice a week?	16 (17)	39 (13)	0.416	14 (16)	26 (12)	0.402	7 (13)	63 (13)	0.938	7 (19)	86 (14)	0.583
Are you bothered from hearing loss?	20 (22)	60 (20)	0.864	26 (30)	40 (18)	0.043[-0.003, 0.2]	16 (30)	132 (27)	0.712	11 (28)	228 (38)	0.261

Table 5. Shows the distribution of male ”yes” answers of the 1995 and 2014 cohorts, respectively, according to age groups. The p-values are calculated using Chi-squared test with Yates correction for each age group testing if there is a significant difference between the number of persons answering yes in 1995 and 2014. *Only replied if “yes” to question no. 1. Significance level p < 0.05 and 95% CI was calculated on significant values.

	Age 18–29 years			Age 30–39 years			Age 40–49 years			Age 50–60 years
	1995 n (%)	2014 n (%)	p[95% CI]	1995 n (%)	2014 n (%)	p[95% CI]	1995 n (%)	2014 n (%)	p[95% CI]	1995 n (%)	2014 n (%)	p[95% CI]
Have you ever had ear discharge?	11 (28)	21 (20)	0.392	15 (37)	13 (19)	0.073	9 (27)	42 (25)	0.970	1 (6)	46 (18)	0.288
Have you had ear discharge within the last 6 months?*	2 (5)	5 (5)	0.717	6 (15)	4 (6)	0.233	3 (10)	14 (8)	0.910	0 (0)	10 (4)	NA
Have you had ear discharge since childhood?	7 (18)	25 (24)	0.668	12 (32)	17 (25)	0.616	7 (21)	36 (22)	0.851	1 (6)	54 (22)	0.215
Did you have otitis media in childhood?	6 (15)	28 (26)	0.242	15 (37)	14 (21)	0.108	6 (19)	39 (22)	0.855	1 (6)	65 (26)	0.097
Do you suffer from vertigo more than twice a week?	2 (5)	9 (8)	0.746	4 (10)	5 (7)	0.904	6 (18)	17 (10)	0.309	4 (25)	24 (10)	0.127
Are you bothered from hearing loss?	7 (18)	27 (25)	0.467	15 (38)	12 (18)	0.384	11 (33)	51 (31)	0.911	6 (33)	106 (42)	0.613

Table 6. Shows the distribution of females answering ”yes” to the questions in the 1995 and 2014 cohorts, respectively, according to age groups. The p-values are calculated using Chi-squared test with Yates correction for each age group testing if there is a significant difference between the number of persons answering “yes” in 1995 and 2014. *Only replied if “yes” to question no. 1. Significance level p < 0.05 and 95% CI was calculated on significant values.

	Age 18–29 years			Age 30–39 years			Age 40–49 years			Age 50–60 years
	1995 n (%)	2014 n (%)	p [95% CI]	1995 n (%)	2014 n (%)	p[95% CI]	1995 n (%)	2014 n (%)	p[95% CI]	1995 n (%)	2014 n (%)	p[95% CI]
Have you ever had ear discharge?	18 (33)	30 (16)	0.007[0.03, 0.3]	14 (30)	22 (15)	0.031[-0.004, 0.3]	5 (25)	66 (20)	0.821	6 (27)	57 (16)	0.293
Have you had ear discharge within the last 6 months?*	4 (8)	12 (6)	0.988	5 (11)	7 (5)	0.248	2 (10)	20 (6)	0.829	2 (9)	23 (6)	0.971
Have you had ear discharge since childhood?	13 (25)	32 (17)	0.275	6 (14)	24 (16)	0.898	4 (25)	63 (19)	0.814	1 (5)	58 (16)	0.240
Did you have otitis media in childhood?	17 (32)	35 (18)	0.048[-0.01–0.3]	13 (27)	31 (21)	0.451	6 (30)	72 (22)	0.584	5 (23)	65 (18)	0.815
Do you suffer from vertigo more than twice a week?	14 (26)	30 (16)	0.127	10 (22)	21 (14)	0.296	1 (5)	46 (14)	0.454	3 (14)	62 (17)	0.938
Are you bothered from hearing loss?	13 (25)	33 (17)	0.320	11 (23)	28 (19)	0.648	5 (25)	81 (25)	0.802	5 (23)	122 (34)	0.374