Table 1 Baseline Characteristics of Participants Fitted with Hearing Aid and Participants Not Fitted with Hearing Aid
From: Cost-utility analysis of hearing aid device for older adults in the community: a delayed start study
Characteristics | Fitted (n = 264) | Not Fitted (163) | P value |
|---|---|---|---|
Age (years) (mean, SD) | 69.3 (10.8) | 69.5 (10.9) | 0.86 |
Ethnicity (n, col %) | |||
 Chinese | 248 (93.9) | 155 (95.7) |  |
 Malay | 4 (1.5) | 4 (2.5) |  |
 Indian | 9 (3.4) | 2 (1.2) |  |
 Others | 3 (1.1) | 1 (0.6) | 0.45 |
Gender | |||
 Male | 161 (61.0) | 94 (58.0) |  |
 Female | 103 (39.0) | 68 (42.9) | 0.54 |
Housing type | |||
 Public | 206 (78.0) | 135 (83.3) |  |
 Private | 58 (22.0) | 27 (16.7) | 0.38 |
Degree of hearing loss (dB HL) (mean, SD) | |||
  Poorer ear | 59.8 (13.2) | 60.6 (13.4) | 0.54 |
  Better ear | 52.0 (12.3) | 53.7 (10.5) | 0.16 |
Employment status of participants | |||
 Retired | 165 (62.5) | 101 (62.0) |  |
 Employed (full-time/part-time) | 89 (33.7) | 55 (33.7) |  |
 Unemployed | 10 (3.8) | 7 (4.3) | 0.96 |
Number of employed participants who were absent from work when visiting MHC | 35 (39.3) | 19 (34.5) | 0.56 |
Number of participants who had caregiver during visit to MHC | 74 (28.0) | 53 (32.5) | 0.30 |
Employment status of caregivers | |||
 Employed | 37 (50.0) | 26 (49.1) |  |
 Retired | 21 (28.4) | 17 (32.1) | 0.80 |
 Unemployed | 10 (13.5) | 8 (15.1) |  |
 Domestic helper | 3 (4.1) | 2 (3.8) |  |
 Others | 3 (4.1) | 0 |  |
Number of participants who had visited healthcare institution due to hearing loss in the last three months | 37 (14.0) | 25 (15.3) | 0.71 |
Mean number of visits for participants who had visited any healthcare institutions in the last three months | 1.0 (0.16) | 1.20 (0.5) | 0.05 |
Number of employed participants who were absent from work when visiting healthcare institution | 7 (18.9) | 7 (28.0) | 0.40 |
Mean number of days absent from work for participants who had visited any healthcare institutions | 0.32 (0.9) | 0.44 (0.8) | 0.60 |
Number of participants with caregivers when visiting any healthcare institutions | 7 (18.9) | 9 (36.0) | 0.13 |
No. of employed caregivers who were absent from work when visiting healthcare institution | 0.6 (0.53) | 0.6 (0.5) | 0.95 |